Another art show... Yep, it's the Box Show in Pt. Reyes Station. Note that my box for this years show is part of the header this year. Come check out the show, it's a lot of fun!

Here’s a picture of my crappy, circa 1960 Japanese guitar I bought at a pawnshop last year for the HUGE sum of $40. It was pretty much unplayable and I had to work on it a bit to get it running and boy, does it run! YOW!
I like to call it my Hound Dog Taylor model, though it's somewhat like, yet not exactly like the late and great Theodore Roosevelt "Hound Dog" Taylor's axe.

I like to use it for open tuning slide guitar stuff. Great and nasty tones emanate from this slab of cheap wood with a couple of tin pick-ups screwed into it and strings stretched across it's heavily scared carcass. I really like it.

Hopefully, I’ll figure out how to post videos on here soon and I’ll put this guitar through its paces and you’ll be able to better hear and see it (while simultaneously being able to mock my playing and my taste in guitars as well).

My dear friend and drummer for my band Los Bottle Rockets, Mr. Curtis 'BPM' Cirillo loves to tease me about never really buying a guitar over $125. I don't think that I do that purposely. I just like the sound and feel of something more than it's label, I suppose.

The infamous, "Heavier-than-a-Samoan" one speed tanker bike I've been carting around with me for most of my life (I even delivered news papers on it for a spell as a young lad). It's a mid-1960's Schwinn "Typhoon" that was originally candy apple red but a relative, who is no longer with us so, out of respect shall remain anonymous painted it orange circa 1970 in East Los Angeles because he, "Thought it looks better orange." I think I'm the second owner as I bought it used for $15 in late 1969 in East Los.
I've given this bike away twice over the years and it still came back to me. It sat in my mother's garage until her death in 1998 and then under my house until a couple of years ago when my wife asked me one night at the dinner table what I wanted to do with it.
I had totally forgot about it and was so stoked that I still had it that I hauled it out the next day, cleaned and lubed it up and ride it to this day.
Here it is replete with the huge, Wald basket (able to hold a few 6 packs of Anchor Steam beer), "Dennis, the plastic crab" on the front, cob webs and rust spots. A beauty to be sure.

For anyone who may read this blog I am in a group show in Oakland, CA this month and next month, July 13 - August 28.
The Many Faces of Frida.
It will be held at the Craft & Cultural Arts Gallery, State of California Office Building - Artrium.
1515 Clay, Oakland, CA 94612.

After almost 4 years I have officially moved out of my San Rafael studio and back into my home studio. Part of the reason I was in San Rafael to begin with was because the home studio had someone living in it.

Now, the home studio has been remodeled (slightly) and painted, etc. I will begin unpacking it today and hopefully I’ll be back in full production by tomorrow.

The only downside to being here again is missing all of the nice people I have made friends with in SR. I’ll miss my breaks (walks) for coffee and chatting with everyone. Naturally I’ll be able to go back and visit on occasion as I’m only a town away but with work schedules and all it would require extra time. I’ll try to show up once a month or so for lunch, etc.

In the mean time I have to get back to work.

The frenzy over Michael Jackson’s death is of no surprise. He was undeniably huge in his global popularity. I remember when the Jackson 5 first came on the scene in the very late 1960’s and how all of us kid’s in the neighborhood were excited (yeah, I’m that old).

I admit that the J5 were a small influence on my musical career but I actually lost interest in Michael Jackson’s music sometime after his solo album, Off the Wall (which is still an excellent record). I suppose I'm a pre-Thriller fan.
This all sort of reminds me of when Elvis died back in 1977 and the subsequent frenzy over his passing.

Now, I don’t want to blather on critically about the guy’s music and his bizarre lifestyle. I have respect for his passing.
That being said, I can’t help but feel a bit sad about Farrah Fawcett’s passing as well and even more so because her passing has become quite overshadowed after Jackson’s death.

It feels just like when Robert Mitchum passed away and then the very next day, Jimmy Stewart died and for a week that’s all you heard about was Stewart's death and Mitchum (one of my favorite actors) was almost totally forgotten.

Typical of mainstream media, the protests in Iran, the war(s) in Iraq and Afghanistan and the state budget woes, etc. are all taking a back seat to the (self-proclaimed) King of Pops demise. In fact, I don't think that they're even in the same car at this point.
And so it goes.

I have a little ritual where every morning upon coming down stairs (unless I go surfing that day) I drink my coffee as I watch a little bit of the local morning news mainly to get the weather info before I start my day.
Naturally, I sit through about 10 minutes, or so of whatever stories they are covering while waiting for the weather. This means that I generally space out or think about my agenda for the day.
However, this morning a story caught my attention, or more to the point, the reaction of individuals in the story is what caught my attention.

The (quick) back story is this, last year two road cyclists where training in the hills of the Cupertino area and were tragically struck and killed by a Sheriff’s deputy who had fallen asleep at the wheel of his patrol car while driving.
This is obviously a terrible incident to be sure. Now, a year later family and friends of the fallen cyclists are outraged that the officer isn’t being “punished sufficiently enough” for the accident.
Now, myself having lost far too many family members since I was a young boy I can totally relate to the anguish and frustration of the family and friends of the cyclists, but I am sympathetic to both parties.

Upon seeing and hearing one of the family/friends of the fallen cyclists interviewed for the segment and how he angrily spat to the interviewer that, “the officer was basically on a paid vacation for the past year…” saddened me. The guy was so angry and the hate in his eyes was so deep that he was blinded to the whole picture. I couldn’t help but shake my head and think of the officer who will have to live with this tragedy for the rest of his life! We forget that it was an ACCIDENT. I’m pretty sure he didn’t set out that day on his shift hoping to kill some one with his patrol car. Perhaps there is more to this tragedy but that’s all the information that I got.
I couldn’t even begin to imagine how it would be to have to shoulder this tragedy for the rest of my days AND to have a large group of people just hating me for it on top of it all. You try to go on and live a "normal" life after that. I don't really know if that would be possible.

No matter how much this guy is “punished” it will NEVER bring back the cyclists.
I can’t help but feel that the world is losing more and more compassion and sensitivity every day not to mention just plain old critical thinking.

There are more than two victims in this ordeal. I hope the family and friends of the cyclists realize this soon and just try to move on and let this tragedy try to heal with time.

Here's a little drawing I made about two weeks ago. It's (sort of) a tribute to my skateboarding past in Sacramento, California circa the mid-1970's. I even used the N-men logo on the skate deck. The bee was originally drawn by Walt Disney himself back in the 1930's for the Sacramento Bee newspaper. Disney was commissioned by the McClatchy family. The bee was/is named "Scoopy." There is also a television bee, "TeeVee" and a radio bee whose name escapes me at the moment. Basically they are ALL the same bee but representing the three different media holdings of the McClatchy empire. I think I'll call my bee "Bite Me."
Ah, I can hear the McClatchy corporate lawyers now....

I like to read and I like to write. I like to correspond too. Emails are good. I read ‘em and I write ‘em. It’s nice to keep in touch, let others know you care about them and that you are still out there plugging away.

That being said, Facebook, on the other hand is a total time vampire. Yep, I’m on there but I really limit my time with that thing. Why? Because I really couldn’t care less what party you’re going to, what you ate this morning for breakfast or that you have to go to the store for more toilet paper. So f&%king what!? I wouldn’t subject you to that so why should you subject the rest of us?
It’s difficult enough to try and communicate with these little electronic boxes using words and such and even more difficult to truly express what we really mean when doing this activity but GEEZ, are we circling the drain with this technology or what?

It has become such a pandemic that we now have had to have laws put in place because of our addiction (yeah, I said it) with these contraptions so we won’t drive our 2000+ pounds of motorized steel into other folks while we are talking/texting pointless information concerning pointless lifestyles.

And here I sit writing this using a computer and posting it to a blog that will never be read. Ah, the irony.

Here’s a question that I have been wondering about more and more lately.
Why are more and more white people (European-Americans, Anglos, gringos, gabachos, gueros… feel free to pick one and apply it) celebrating Cinco de Mayo?
I have in-laws in Michigan and North Carolina who were recently on Facebook announcing that they were in the midst of gearing up to get tore up for Cinco de Mayo. I read this and wondered aloud, “why?”
You see, none of my in-laws are Mexican, Mexican-American, Chicano, Latino, and Hispanic (feel free to pick one and apply it). In fact, some of them have never been to Mexico. There are even a couple who are overtly anti-Mexican and feel that Latinos are “taking over the country.” Funny, I’m the ONLY Mexican-American (I like to refer to myself as Chicano) that they have ever come in contact with at any time. Maybe they are anti- me!? I digress.
By-the-way, In May 5, 1862 the Mexican army along with other Mexican troops defeated the French near the town of Puebla and defeated that stumpy punk-ass Napoleon III and sent what few French that were still standing packing. It is said that Napoleon claimed that once the French were successful in capturing Mexico that they would, in-turn help the Confederacy defeat the Union army in the then raging American civil war.
That didn’t quite pan out.
Also, Cinco de Mayo is NOT the Mexican Independence day. That would be September 16. It was also won 52 years earlier (1810) freeing Mexico from Spain.
Still the question remains. Hmmmm.... Well, my thought is this; Non-Latinos like to celebrate Cinco de Mayo because they are drunks.

I went surfing for the first time in 7 months on Thursday. Boy, I’m REALLY out of shape. It took what seemed like forever to get to the line up and when I did get to the line up I had to let a couple of sets blow by as to rest my arms (which felt like lead at this point).

My first ride of the day was smooth. It was a long right on a glassy but occasionally sectioning 3’. I was on my friend, Beth’s 10’, heavily glassed, triple redwood stringer Pearson Arrow. Good board especially though the flat spots. It is also deceptively faster than one would think. Well, faster than my Weber Performer, anyway.
The tide was still out and I rode this wave almost back to the beach, picking up section after section by cutting back left then, once going again bottom turning back into the reforming right and stepping a little forward for speed.
However, remembering how long it took me to get out this morning I wisely decided to kick out a little earlier that I normally would of so I would spare my arms the beating.

After that the next 2+ hours were pure paddling hell. The ocean was punishing me for being gone for so long.

I rode a few more waves but was having problems popping up smoothly. My arms were gone. They felt like they weighed 100 lbs. apiece. Once up the waves quality was changing with the incoming tide and the rides were getting shorter and shorter. Man, my arms were dead. The ocean was punishing me.

Finally I took a shitty, 3’ crap wave all the way to the beach. Once I was on the sand I hopped off the board and bent down to pick it up… that’s when I felt the sharpest, hottest pain snap into my lower back.
I almost screamed it hurt so badly. The ocean was punishing me.
I stood there motionless, hunched over like a Gargoyle on the Notre Dame watching the board surge up and back in the break.
It took me 40 minutes to get back to my truck (generally a 7 minute walk… tops), another 40 minutes to change out of my wetsuit. The ocean was punishing me.

Day 5 now and I’m still flat-on-my-back. I’m popping Vicodin with a whiskey chaser to sleep at night. The ocean is punishing me.

It’s not like I don’t have enough to do already but I was recently approached (by email) by Will Drinker who is a film maker living in Los Angeles. He is in the process of making a documentary film about his brother Dan and his everyday life living with Downs.

Will contacted me, as well as other cartoonists to contribute our talents to stories that Will has written about the daily routines and such from Dan’s life for a graphic novel to be completed sometime in the future.

Naturally, I feel honored to be involved in something such as this. Will has sent me three scripts and I am to choose one in which to illustrate. It was difficult to choose as I like all three but I have picked one. However, I have told Will that I just may end up doing the other two as well. Typical of me, I know.

Between another gig I’m working on I am watching clips from Will’s documentary on Youtube to get a better visual of Dan and Will and what goes on in Dan’s life.
You can check them out as well by going to, www.dandrinker.com

I realize that I haven’t been writing on the ‘ol blog much this year but I am one who believes that if you don’t really have anything to say then don’t bother talking, or in this case writing.
That being said, I’ll just keep the two or three people who may (or may not) read this up to speed with what I am up to.

The first issue of Tortilla, my self-published comic book has been out since November of 2008 but I haven’t put it in any stores yet. That will finally happen next week. However, you may obtain a signed copy by mailing $3 (well hidden cash of money order only please) to; Jaime Crespo, P.O. Box 112, San Anselmo, CA 94979 USA.

Also, Slices, the 40 page “best of” Slice O’ Life collection is also available for $4 (same situation and address as above).

I am currently working on my first graphic novel, Turk Street Serenade which is a factual recounting about my time living and working in a San Francisco Tenderloin Hotel as a janitor during the mid-1980’s when crack first came on the streets and Reagan was in the White House and everything was almost as fucked-up as it is now. Think, Charles Bukowski with pictures.

It will be 200+ pages and the first chapter will be featured in Tortilla #2 due out this spring. I plan on releasing it a chapter at a time in my comic Tortilla until it either gets picked up by a publisher or I just eventually waste more money and time and do it myself. It should be done well before I’ve published 15+ issues of Tortilla. Probably by Tortilla #5 if not earlier.

Also, I have to change my publishing name yet again. Thanks to my homie, Norman Zelaya for pointing out that La Calaca was already taken I now have to change it. So, with that I will NOW publish under the Aegis: Corn Tortilla Press! Be warned.

I attended the WonderCon this year on the Saturday schedule with my buddy, E. Francis Kohler and have to admit I was simultaneously overwhelmed and depressed. Overwhelmed by the multitude of people and nerds swarming all over the place and depressed by the current state of the comics industry. Publishing is feeling a down turn (mostly with my genre, the alternative, underground, non-super hero) and it feels like everything is geared towards movies and TV. I get the overall vibe that certain cartoonists and writers are vying for a movie/TV deal as opposed to putting out a great comic.
Okay, that sounds a bit naïve and I realize that the market and world is evolving and one must evolve with it but no matter how much you polish a turd, it’s still a turd. I see these cartoonists who have become extremely self-involved and have these egos that need constant stroking and just having a great comic (book, strip, novel whatever) isn’t enough. What would one expect from nerds?
Well, we are in a certain “modern day Roman empire” where our culture has become blind consumers, which is corporate and famed based. Why do you think shit programming such as, Dances with the Stars, QVC, American Idol and Maury are so popular?
Okay, time for me to quit ranting and climb down off the soapbox before I hurt myself.

This morning as I was ingesting my first cup of coffee of the day as I was greeted by an email from my friend, poet/writer/dj Darren De Leon that our mutual friend, the fantastic Chicano poet, George Tirado was dead.
Man, I can’t say that I was surprised. George shot dope for a lot of years. He lived life about as hard as it gets and weighing in at around 400 pounds on top of all of the drinking, weed, speed and junk, well let’s just say that we were all collectively waiting for the other shoe to drop. Still, knowing all of this doesn’t make his passing any easier. To say George had his demons is an understatement. He indeed had his demons but writing the truth and pain he experienced in his 44 years on this planet wasn’t one of them. His memorial was today in the Tenderloin at the Ambassetor Hotel, which is located literally right on the next block from the hotel I used to live in 23 years ago, so I had no problems finding my way there.
Darren apologized for the short notice but I wrote back and told him no worries, I’ll be there.
I got to Eddy Street a little early just so I could walk around and look at what may or may not have changed since my days in the TL and to reflect a little about George and what he meant to me. I took a lap around the block past my old hotel, the streets still teeming with America’s thrown out and disenfranchised. A line from a Dave Alvin song came to mind, “Everything is different but nothing has changed.”
I thought about George and his poetry, what he and I used to talk about and the artwork I did for his chapbooks and what not. I can still hear him talking about Oscar ‘Zeta” Acosta, Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata, Aztlan, the Chicano movement, dope and music and all the other stuff Chicanos like us used to talk about.
When I got to the memorial at the hotel they ushered us into a small back room filled with about 30 folding chairs and a TV in one corner and an alter with a huge photo of George looking back. “Aw, yeah. There he is.” I said under my breath because that was how I always greeted Tirado when I saw him.
All sorts of people nervously milled about, eyeing the donuts, candy, chips, salsa and guacamole. There were people from the hotel that were friends with George, people from social services that worked with George and in the back were poets and artists who worked with George. On the phone they had his mother calling all the way from Houston, Texas as she listened in to the memorial.
People read poems they wrote about George or they read Georges poems or they just talked about him and said goodbye. On a TV a DVD played showing George at readings.
Afterwards I left with Darren and Josiah Luis Aldarete and we laughed about our favorite George stories as we walked around the Tenderloin.
No matter what is said or written it’s always the bottom line that is forever. George is gone now and I’ll never forget him.

Just got back from the 2008 APE (Alternative Press Expo) last night and I had a pretty good time, I might add.
I was an exhibitor at the first two APE’s in San Jose when Dan Vado of Slave Labor Graphics was still manning the helm and I hadn’t been back since as I was doing crazy stuff like finishing a college degree while working a whole bunch of jobs while simultaneously being a husband, dad, pet owner and home owner… you can see where I’m going with this.

Now I’m back drawin’ and creatin’ and had both Slices and the first issue of Tortilla with me at a table at APE.

Saw a few of the old cartoonists from the “old days” and we all stood there wondering where all of our time went. It was great to see Megan Kelso again at the Last Gasp mixer on Friday night and again at the show. We both reminisced and laughed a lot about being a part of the second, “Golden Age” of underground cartoonist in San Francisco (the first being the late 1960’s and early 1970’s) back in the very late 1980’s early 1990’s.

My homie, Keith Knight who was also part of that 80’s/90’s SF era cartoonist cadre was also there and is always a great guy by kicking me in the ass to sell myself more.
Lloyd Dangle was there and I have always enjoyed his work and Lloyd himself. I’ve watched his work grow and spread throughout the land as well.

Yakked it up with both Mario and Jaime Hernandez there. Great artists and guys. Saw Javier Hernandez (El Muerto) and he and I had a blast catching up as we met a million years ago at the first APE and would subsequently run into each other at other comix/zine fests throughout the land.

It was a great pleasure to see Dan Clowes again as well. Dan and I used to correspond way back when he was only a few issues into his comic book, Eightball when he still lived in Chicago. Now, Dan is chugging along well with many high-end projects under his belt as well as a couple of Hollywood movies to boot (Ghost World and Art School Confidential).

Met some new folks as well. Edgar, Enrique, Eric and a whole crew of extremely talented, up-and-coming artist at the table next to me. Great guys with excellent work.

Big Up’s to my buddy and stupendous cartoonist/artist Larry Rippee. I’m trying to get him to through his hat back into the ring. I know he has projects going but soon he’ll be back. Oh, and thanks for the ride too, Larry!

Well, I had fun and now I have the first cold/flu I’ve had in years (had too much fun, I suppose).
I’m going back to bed.

No sleep, no surfing but I do have a lot of work. I've never been too good at math but this equation isn't adding up.

Anyone out there wanna' buy a bike? It's on Craig's List as Marin 'Highway One.'

Sleep deprivation is a funny thing. It’s after 8 in the morning on a Saturday as I write this. Big deal, right? Well, I’ve been awake since 4:20 this morning after going to bed at 12:30.
In the past couple of years I have been having trouble sleeping. Sometimes I sleep off-and-on for 8 to 10 hours a night but in reality I’m awake for a couple of those hours, in during those rare nights.
The rest (most) of the time I’m averaging about 3 to 4 hours of sleep a night.
This really sucks.
I’m always tired yet I can’t seem to sleep.
You figure the average person sleeps about 56 hours a week. These days I’m lucky if I sleep 24 hours a week.
I take ‘power naps’ every-so-often at my studio, which average about 10 minutes. They actually work (for me anyway) and after one I’m ready to go for hours.
Coffee fuels the rest of my day. And don’t get started with the, “Well, maybe you should quit drinking coffee and then you’ll sleep.”
I already did that and it didn’t work… besides I tend to have coffee in the mornings and maybe a small one after lunch. After about 1 in the afternoon I rarely, if EVER have more coffee.
I drink more water than anything during the day (I average 1 to 2, 1.5 liter bottles daily).
Anyway, I’d rather sleep soundly for 8 hours straight a night like a regular person than take a power nap a couple of times a week.
I’ve always heard that the older you get the less sleep you need. However, that’s usually for people over 60 and I’m not even to 50 yet.
Ah, sleep… perchance to dream.

Was just up in Sacramento for a wonderful reunion with some childhood buddies from East Sacramento (and I mean the original East Sac). We all congregated at the Espanol restaurant (Folsom Blvd.), which is an Italian restaurant and I have never understood the name connection.
I was the first to arrive and was freaking out the whole way there as I was stuck in traffic on I80 from the bay area and thought I would be late. Well, I wasn’t and everyone else was a little late.

It was great to see the guys; Doug, Mark, Tony, Herb, Paul, Jeff and John. There were a few more missing but we had such a great time that we’re going to do it again next year and try to get EVERYONE to go. We’ll see.

After the food and a few drinks we went down the road a little ways to the local, East Sac watering hole, Club 2-Me (J street @ 48Th). What a blast! We grew up with the owners sons (Craig, Brian and Richard) and we were easily the oldest group in the joint that night and to my surprise, one of the bar tenders (Chris, aka Mickey) was another guy we grew up with in the neighborhood and he and I were totally stoked to see each other again. He wants to join in next year! Oh, yeah Mickey…you’re in, bro!
Oh, and the drinks were incredibly cheap (by bay area standards anyway) as I bought a round of 3 pints of Fat Tire Ale, two tequilas (NOT Cuervo!) and a grey hound and the bill came out to $16.50!!!!!! Whoa!
Man, I’m glad I don’t live around there anymore or I’d be in big trouble.

I had a great time and a lot of laughs. I’ve known all of these guys since we were all little kids and it is always great to remember where you came from. Sure, there were a few sad spots too as some guys folks have passed away as well as news of other kids we grew up with are no longer alive but all-in-all it was a wonderful time.

Wait ‘til next year! Whoooo!

I now have all of the programs and whatnot to maintain my website myself except… the actual ability. It’s a very slow learning process for me.

Also, I’m in a couple of group art shows at the moment. The first is going on right now in Point Reyes Station at Gallery Route One (google the gallery for more details). It’s the 10Th annual G.R.O. Box Show. I’m in there somewhere…probably way in the back next to the bathroom.

The other show will be at the MCCLA (Mission Cultural Center of Latino Arts) in San Francisco. It’s a Cartoon/comics deal and I have an original two-page comic in there, which is for sale by the way (hint-hint). This show starts on August the 15Th, I think. Once again, google the Mission Cultural Center for all of the details, as I am totally useless in this capacity.

I’ve been surfing again and even though I am absolutely and unequivocally out-of-shape and stiff I still feel as if it has been a homecoming of sorts. I’m feeling much better and becoming rejuvenated again.

Otherwise, I am penciling-in a comic book (Tortilla #1) and trying to produce more Slice O’ Life strips while rewriting the graphic novel in between it all.

Well, it looks like it’s going to be a bit longer before I can get to my site and make any changes, hopefully just another week.

Also, I’m going to be in the Gallery Route One Box Show in Pt. Reyes Station again but I think after 7 or 8 years of being a participant that this is going to be my last year. The box takes a lot of time and it’s now becoming time that I can’t really spare anymore. I understand that there is one heck of a waiting list of people who want to get in on the box show, so I’m certain that someone much more talented than myself will step in and really make G.R.O. some money.

Check back later for more…

Okay, kids. I have about another week before I begin to decimate…er…I mean, begin to act as the sole custodian of my web site. The web queen herself, Lisa Long is getting me the proper programs and a few pointers on which way to go and then it’s off to the races… I hope.

I’ll keep you all posted. In the mean time I am working simultaneously on the first issue of Tortilla and my box for the G.R.O. (Gallery Route One) box show in Pt. Reyes Station, California.

Also—I am setting up to print a few Slice O’ Life t-shirts which will be for sale through the afore mentioned web site as well as a couple of other designs. As I said before, check back for when all of this will happen this summer.

In the mean time, try to stay cool in this heat!

Forgot to mention in the last post that as of last night, July 1 my radio program, Fault Line Radio (www.kwmr.org) is now broadcasting at the new time slot of 9 pm to 12 am midnight. It’s still Tuesday nights only now I shut down the station. Not much else has changed except that my good buddy, Tony Palmer has moved to Wednesday nights and is now on at 10:30 pm t 1:30 am.

Since we moved the station from the Red Barn to the Creamery Building years ago Tony, Charlie ‘Chazmo’ Morgan along with yours truly have been the Tuesday night line-up and it feels that it’s been like that forever. Charlie has always referred to us as, “The power hitters of the line-up.” Yeah, both Charlie and I are life-long San Francisco Giants fans who both go back to the days of Willie Mays!

In all actuality it’s probably been about seven years but that still is a long time as we do this around 52 times a year, EVERY year and add a couple of years on to that as all three of us have been at the station from the beginning in different time slots. Radio Dogs we are!

As much as I love having three hours instead of the former one and a half I already miss seeing Tony for our program transition. Still, I see Tony socially and we have a band (of sorts) together that needs to get dusted off and begin to play music again. So it’s not a loss for anyone really… it’s just a little different.

I guess this long winded explanation is to say that, as corny as it may sound we are one huge family at KWMR and even though change is sometimes met with indifference it is also necessary and for the over-all good for our personal and collective journey in life.

Change is good.

Tune in tonight (if you live in West Marin, 90.5 fm Pt. Reyes Station or 89.7 fm Bolinas. Or, you can stream it on the web at www.kwmr.org) and every Wednesday night at 10:30pm for Sonic Sunspots and listen to Tony and you’ll know what I’m rambling about here!

Great Oogalee-Boogalee. I'm really bad at keeping these posts going. I just have a hard time wanting to write about every damn thing that goes on.

Okay, I have one thing. I have been corresponding (by email) with one of the big cartooning influences on yours truly. One Mr. Robert Armstrong. I have been a huge fan of this guy since I first saw his work in Arcade (R. Crumb's precursory to Weirdo) in the 70's when I was an impressionable high school kid. Armstrong was the creator of Mickey Rat comics, The Couch Potatoes and is one of the founding members (along with Robert Crumb and Alan Dodge) the musical group; the Cheap Suit Serenader's, painter and modifier of hand-painted Ukuleles and guitars, he is also the musician you hear playing the saw at the end of the film; One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest to name but a few of his accomplishments.

He has a web site and naturally I can't remember the web address but you can Google the guy.
Check out his work you won't be disappointed.

I've finally made the plunge into the Mac world everyone. Bought a MacBook today and am fixin' to learn how to maintain the website and whatnot. So far, so good. I'm pretty lame when it comes to computers and such so I'm going to take a couple of the classes they offer and also see what the web site queen, Lisa has to impart on me as well and I guess the rest we'll just see what happens.....wish me luck.

Once again, fight fans my new 40 page comic book, Slices, a selected collection of old format Slice O’ Life strips is available directly from me at $5 ppd. a copy (well concealed cash or money order only)….

Jaime Crespo
P.O. Box 112
San Anselmo, CA 94979

I will soon have a complete listing of which comic book stores in California that carry copies of Slices as well. Stay tuned...

Hopefully in the next couple of weeks I’ll be re-vamping the old web site…actually my web master, the incredible and talented Lisa Long will be doing that as I am pretty much a Luddite with these matters and anything else to do with computers.

I’m looking to have a “store” or “la tienda” page on the site where I will be pimping…er…uh…selling my wares such as comic books, chap books, t-shirts and even a few original art pieces from time-to-time. Who knows what strange and goofy sh*t I’ll have on there…stay tuned.

Other news—I have a piece in the KWMR silent auction/art show at Toby’s Feed Barn in Pt. Reyes Station. There are over 80 artists in this show and tomorrow, Saturday May 31st is the final bidding. Get out there and throw down. You don’t have to bid on my piece by any means but bid on something you like out there…heck, you can bid on as many pieces as you want (hint, hint). The money goes to KWMR which I am also involved in and we really need the $$ to stay on the air and pay our bills (rent, utilities, small staff, equipment and equipment repairs, etc.). If you wish to be more direct with helping out KWMR go to the website at: www.kwmr.org and follow the prompters there. Help support community sponsored radio. Thanks

Is it me or are there an unusually large number of African email scams floating around this year? It seems as if there are way more than usual.

I have received three (3) in as many months informing me that I am to receive somewhere in the neighborhood of thirty million ($30,000,000) from a “distant relative” who perished in a tragic plane crash on March 31st, 2000. I always laugh out loud when the actual locations of these crashes are NEVER in the same place. They have been in either Paris, France or in two different parts of the African continent….but the date is always the same (March 31st, 2000) and if I send certain personal information to the said concerned African bank manager I will receive my “departed relatives” money…..right!

If the nimrods who send these scams would only realize two basic things they might actually have a sucker-on-the-line. 1: You can’t send the exact email scam three (3) times citing different locations of the plane crash in different parts of the globe with the same, exact date and 2: (the more important issue) is that if ANYONE in my family, distant or otherwise had THAT kind of money we would have been all over that pendejo for loans and whatnot from day one!

Okay, Kids here’s the low-down on the Slices comic book.

It’s $5 ppd. by mail. (Sorry, but I don’t make the postage prices up. Blame the USPS. I know that sounds like a lot but this book is HUGE at 40 pages and the mail, like every thing else has gone way up. It costs over a buck to mail just one book).
Sorry, I also don’t except personal checks but do except well hidden cash and money orders.
If you buy the book from me in person (sans mail) it’s a mere $4.

It’s already in Blue Moon Comics in Novato, though I’m not too sure how much they charge. I’ll be distributing it further in San Francisco/Berkeley/Oakland as well as the Sacramento and San Jose areas. I’ll also have it in a handful of stores in-and-around the Los Angeles area as well within a week or two.

I was a bit surprised to find out that the Santa Rosa area stores don’t and won’t carry Slices at all. Slice O’ Life did get its start in the wonderful North Bay Bohemian (where it still appears bi-weekly) which is headquartered in downtown Santa Rosa.
I was told by the store managers that, “People who read comic books don’t read comic strips.” I am not making this quote up. They absolutely and totally said that to me. After I was done laughing I told these incredibly “hip guys” that I found that comment short sighted and profoundly ignorant considering that these “strips” are now reprinted in a “comic book” and comic books started as strips and that I must then be the last person on earth who reads both comic books as well as comic strips. Hey, I figure if you don’t like my work, just say so. I'd respect that.

If anyone reading this lives in Sonoma County either drive to Napa or Marin County or save the planet and gas and just shoot me an email or send $5 to:

Jaime Crespo
P.O. Box 112
San Anselmo, CA 94979

And I’ll send you a signed copy ASAP.
Other than that, Slices will be available on my website and just about everywhere else in California…EXCEPT Sonoma County.

Boy-oh-boy. I finally got into the surf today and even though it was in the 1’-3’ range it was glassy, good shape, un-crowded and even sunny for a change. I had the place to myself for close to an hour (just like the old days…pre-internet) and then Big Ben and a friend of his eventually showed up and the session was on. Fun was had by all.
Missed Mary and Marty and John P.

Well, I picked up the books last week and they look better than I thought they would. I’m figuring out a price (40+ pages means it’ll be a bit more than usual, but not a whole lot) and a way to get them on the web site and also distribute them and get ‘em into a whole mess o’ stores. I’ll try to not drag on this one.

Been riding the “Tanker” to work again and that is where I am going…right now.

I just rode my bike to and from the studio today. No, not the tanker…the “other” bike with “all the gears.” The one that hardly weighs anything. I won’t lie…it wasn’t easy coming home with a head wind being as out-of-shape as I’ve become. I felt like one of those bears on a tricycle you’d see in a Russian circus, only change the bear into an elephant…an elephant that is really out-of-shape…and who can’t spell worth a damn.
One of these days I’ll learn how to import photos from my digital camera onto this here blogger thing and then I’ll be able to give those who don’t already have to endure me in person visuals of the crap that I go on-and-on about.

Anyhow-it was actually nice to be able to roll around again. Now if we can just get some freaking surf I’d be set.

Thanks for the interest in the upcoming Slices-Slice O’ Life “original format” collection. I’m hoping to pick them up this week. They’re all ready to go but the printer doesn’t take credit cards so I’m getting the cash together. Ugh.

I dropped off the Slice O’ Life original format collection at the printers today. I about gagged when I saw how much this is going to cost me for a 40+ page comic book.
Prices have really jumped since I last did this…obviously it’s been quite a while.
They should be ready by next week. Check the website (probably the “news” button) to obtain a copy and when and where I’ll have a signing.
I’m going to eventually have a “store” page on the website very soon to purchase books, t-shirts and other ‘one-off’ art pieces.
Yes, I am a busy little beaver.

Back from Sacramento and boy am I tired. I’m not too used to staying up past 2 am anymore. I hope Steve got what he wanted as he had a few snafus with his recording equipment but I think it all turned out okay. The guy is good.
I also enjoyed recording with my old pal, Marty Montana. Marty is an excellent bassist and musician. He and I go all the way back to playing in some of our first bands in the mid 70’s in Oak Park with our buddy Art Arias when I was a sophomore and they were both juniors in high school.

Sacramento, on the other hand looks almost nothing like how I remembered it when I moved away 26+ years ago. Sure, I’ve been back there countless times since I left but I rarely went anywhere other than my mom’s house. I rolled around a bit after I left but that was the first 5 years and not much changed in 5 years.

She’s been gone for 10 years this coming August and since then I have been up there maybe 5 times and most of those 5 times was right after she had passed away. The other time was for Aldo’s funeral a few years back literally a couple of days after I was out of a 5 day hospital stay (I had no business behind the wheel. Man!). I never really explored the place like I did yesterday after say, 1982.

I spent most of a day just driving and walking around and I was almost heartbroken to find that most of the stuff I remember is gone and what’s left has changed so much I don’t really recognize any of it anymore.

I did drop in on Esoteric Records which hasn't been at it's original location in about 30 years. I got to shoot the bull with my old pal (and once employer) Denis Tomassetti and have a Fat Tire Ale too. I used to hang out then began to work a bit at the original Alhambra Boulevard location when Rick DaPrado owned it (across the street from McKinley Park) and then it's 2Nd location on Broadway (right down the street from the original Tower records). During my visit yesterday we were laughing our asses off about all of the characters that came into the shop(s) and crazy times we had at those places. Thanks, Denis. A great guy from a great family!

Almost every one I grew up with that I was real close to, like myself have moved away. What parents that are still alive have also moved.
There are still some folks I wonder about and have lost touch with and I don’t know where they are. There is even one person who (I thought) I was pretty good friends with but he got real pissed off at me for wishing him a happy birthday last year on what I thought was his 50Th birthday but it turned out it was his 49Th. Geez, how did I know he was going to be such a jerk about it? At least I remembered his birthday, right? Now the guy doesn’t speak to me. Oh well. Life’s too short to hold grudges or to drink crappy beer.

Anyway--Sacramento is about twice the size (population) as when I lived there. It’s somewhere in the area of 470,000 in the metropolitan area. Hey, at least it isn’t San Jose…I mean, I have nothing against San Jose but they were always roughly the same size as Sacramento and today they have just topped the metropolitan population of 1,000,000! That’s not counting the surrounding areas. Yikes!

I miss a lot about Sacramento but most of those things I miss are just memories from a different time and places just change, for better or for worse things just change. You can’t stop time.
I suppose that old saying applies here; “You can never go back.”

Oh, last thing…Big ups to Alex Pearlstone for his excellent job at the scrimmage today at the Coliseum down at UCLA! Home boy is a walk-on for the Bruins football team and it looks like he may have made it through what is the 2Nd phase of a 4 phase situation. Way to go, bro!

Geez-Louise! My back is still a little stiff and sore. I'm just now able to do some stretches and sit-ups. Hopefully this will all mend sooner than later.

I'll be in bee-u-ti-ful Sacramento (aka; Sac, the Bag, Sack-o-pimentos, Psycho-mental)recording with guitarist extraordinaire, Steve Brooks this weekend. Though Mr. Brooks is primarily known as a bad-ass jazz guitarist he can also play any style that you can think of...and sometimes things no one can think of. Yeah, he's that good. He and I have a loose sort of guitar duo that we've been fooling with since the mid-1980's and we are recording this weekend for a goofy project Steve is involved with.

Oh, I will also be at the APE (Alternative Press Expo) this coming November in San Francisco. I was at the first three APE's when they started in San Jose back in the early-mid 1990's. I'd be great to see you all. I'll have a couple of books by then and hopefully a t-shirt or two as well as some original art for sale.

My heart felt condolences go out to the family of Phoebe Washer who died last Monday when hiking the Marin Headlands. Phoebe was a gifted young artist whose life was cut way too short.
You can see some of her work by going to www.phoebewasher.com.

I forgot to mention in my last blog that I had the opportunity to interview Leon Redbone on the radio (by phone) at KWMR in Pt. Reyes Station this past Tuesday evening. He is truly a rare performer these days and quite the gentleman. Thank you, Leon for the time and a special thank you to Kay Clements for setting the whole deal up!

Oh, for those of you who may be wondering how I was able to interview Leon Redbone on a radio station… I am a programmer (this is what a radio “DJ” is called these days) at KWMR which, as I stated before is located in West Marin County in the beautiful town of Pt. Reyes Station. My program is called Fault Line Radio and I’m on every Tuesday evening from 9pm until 12 midnight PST. It’s a music show where I play “random music randomly” and occasionally have interviews or a tribute show focusing on an artist or particular musical genre. I’ve been there almost 9 years now just 3 months short of the actual on-air beginning of the station.

You can stream the station on-line by going to www.kwmr.org (or go to my links page and find the address there) and then clicking on the little cow standing on top of the flashing “On Air” sign you can just follow the prompters from there on. There are loads of excellent and interesting programs on our little, listener supported station. Check it out.

My last visit to my chiropractor for this freakin’ back pull is today. I can’t wait. I’ve been a pretzel for 8 days now (a personal record) and though I am far from being hunched over and in excruciating pain and walking with a cane, which was the case for three days I am still a bit stiff and slightly tilted to one side. I missed an entire week of work to boot. I tried to work last Monday but spent about 10 minutes in my chair and the rest of the time on my back on the floor, so I bagged working last week until I could actually sit down for more than 10 minutes.
I miss the ocean, surfing, paddle boarding and riding my bike to work and just around in general.
Well, looks to be light at the end of this long, lame-ass tunnel.

Other news—I’m looking to send off the Slice O’ Life ‘original format series’ collection to the printer this week. I am also thinking of having a book signing for this collection as well. I’ve never done a signing before and I’m not too sure how it works or if anyone will show up. I’ll probably hold it in Santa Rosa some where since Slice O’ Life is in the North Bay Bohemian and that paper reaches three counties (Sonoma, Napa and Marin Counties) but is based in Santa Rosa, so….Stay tuned and I’ll keep you few who look at this blog posted on the date and location.
For those of you who are not near the North Bay location or in this part of California (or even in the great state of California for that matter) the collection will be in comic book and book stores as well as available from my web site.

My next project is to re-work and then release Throb. This was a 24 page, 9 panels-per-page wordless comic, somewhat like Istvan Banyai’s Zoom but different I created several years ago. I’m changing the ending of the book and adding a few extra pages, changing the entire cover (front and back, inside as well). This book wasn’t even distributed and I think I may have taken it to a comic/zine con somewhere but don’t really remember when and which one.

On top of all of this I am currently working on the first issue of Tortilla and a couple of poetry chap books and of course more Slice O’ Life strips.
All of these will be with me at this years APE con (Alternative Press Expo) in San Francisco. I was at the first three APE’s when Dan Vado ran them down in San Jose. I haven’t been back and am pretty excited and curious as to how it all shakes out these days.

When my back is out...so is my work. Between my back and my right knee 2008 is turning out to be a painfully crippling year.

Okay, okay, oh-f%#king-kay already! The reading is on SATURDAY the 5Th. 8pm. I have received six (6) emails including Norman Zelaya who is hosting this event already on how I effed-up on the actual day.
S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y. A-P-R-I-L 5Th! Got it!
An aside, I'm surprised that six (6) people actually read my blog....

Hey, if you happen to be in San Francisco’s Mission district on Friday night about 8 pm you’ll be able to catch me reading….poetry (yeah, you read that right). It’s a fairly well hidden fact that I not only read poetry but I read my own poetry.
Now, I’m not saying that it’s any good but it is mine.
If you do show up you won’t be totally disappointed as Norman Zelaya is hosting this event and his work is GREAT!
It’s at the Galeria de la Raza located on 24th @ Bryant.
Check out the website for more info….

www.galeriadelaraza.org

I was recently sent one of those annoying “group emails” where it had something to do with “…if you’re over 30 you’ll enjoy this,” Type of thing. I don’t like these type of emails and please never, EVER send me a chain email. I hate those most. I automatically delete those without even reading them.

Now, this particular email focused on how easy kids have it today. I for one wouldn’t say that kids have it any easier today compared to back when I was a kid because things are pretty much circling the drain today (increased violence, AIDS, over crowding, global warming, war, value of the dollar dropping, gas going up to name a few). Where the email went wrong was it stated a lot of technological things we didn’t have, which is true however that had very little to do with “how easy” kids have it. I would say that it’s just different now and will continue to be for every single generation to come.

However, coming from a bit more of a challenged socioeconomic background as I did we didn’t have a lot of the things most middle class Americans did have back then and that’s where I had even further issue with this lame-ass email. But that's not what I was trying to get at here.

Even though we didn’t have a lot of the technological advances that are available today and the fact that my family were poor I still feel the exact opposite of how easy kids have it today because it wasn't so bad then compared to how kids have it today. Things were less crowded and a little less hectic…even in the ‘hood! I’m not saying that it was “the good old days” but it wasn’t so bad either. Sure, we had gangs but not as many (gang membership and activity has grown ten-fold since I was a kid) and I didn't have to worry about what color I wore to school for example.

I was going to write my own comparisons to what we did and didn’t have when I was a kid but I’ll spare you.

It's a pretty stressful world and I feel that even though kids may have a lot of advantages it still ain't no picnic.

Went to the doctor yesterday to get my creaking and sore knee looked at. The good news: I don’t need any surgery. The bad news: I screwed up my ACL way back during my college baseball years (27 years ago!) and I didn’t get it treated properly (ah, macho youth) and now the ‘ol knee isn’t what it once was.
The doctor’s solution; two weeks of horse-sized ibuprofen and NO bikes, surfing or skateboarding for two weeks.
My studio is a three-story walk up and stairs hurt the most and I look like Fred Sanford when I traverse them but one figures out how to handle these things. It just takes me a little longer to go up and down them.
Save some surf for me…I’ll be back sooner than you think.

I was gliding along on the tanker bike this morning on my way to make goofy pictures and as I was enjoying the weather while listening to my knees creak-and-howl a huge, black Chevrolet Suburban (also known as a Land Yacht) chugged by being operated by a single occupant.
I rode behind it for a few blocks on the frontage road that I often use to get to work. As I’m inhaling the fumes I read the sole bumper sticker on the back; Keep Tahoe Blue. I couldn’t help but wonder if the irony of that bumper sticker on that vehicle is lost on its owner.

What with the nice weather, a nice swell and a mid-day dental appointment I played hooky yesterday and went surfing at the “good spot.” I paddled out with fellow Set Wasters Jim Lerer and Steve Braun. Though the surf was shifty it was worth it with such a beautiful day. Also, a shout out to Water Polo/Swim Guru, Mark Anderson who was in the drink with us as well as the bad-ass surfer and retired Fire Chief, Tim Eke. Fun was had by all.
There were even two male Sea Lions snoozing in the sun, on the beach, up in the Ice Plant.
Take a day every now and again. It’s good for your head.

I just got back the other day from a week spent in Santa Barbara. I haven’t been there in several years and was a bit bummed to see that State Street is looking more and more like an even-more-plastic-version of Orange County.
I also paid a visit to the Santa Barbara Surf Shop and what a great shop it is! It’s a great surf shop for having all of the gear a surfer needs to the amazing collection of historic surfboards that are hanging all over this huge shop. Man, looking at the old, balsa Yater’s was worth the visit alone. Reynolds Yater is one of the last great shapers from the golden era of surfing. If you’re ever in town, even if you don’t surf you should stop in and check it out because anyone with any amount of soul would definitely appreciate the art and craftsmanship that goes into his boards.
Oh, the last thing about State Street. I saw a white rat riding on the back of a calico cat, who was riding on the back of a dog as they were being walked up and down State Street. I know that sounded a trifle “Dr. Seuss” but it’s what I saw. In all of my travels half around this globe thus far I had never seen anything quite like that before.

I ended up watching the Academy Awards last night. One of a few surprises to me was the Borne Ultimatum winning anything! That movie made me wish I took Dramamine before I watched it and it wasn’t nearly as good as the first one was.
I was also surprised and disappointed by how tame and restrained Jon Stewart was. I guess he was too worried about pleasing the Hollywood machine. He lost a couple of points from me.
I really liked the film No Country for Old Men, though I was surprised by how many awards it won. I pretty much like most if not all of the Cohen’s films. However, was it me or were the Cohen brothers just a bit too smug and ungrateful? I can understand not really digging the whole, phony Hollywood scene but if you’re going to behave as if your mom has nagged you into taking out the trash I ask; Dudes, you’re grown men, why even bother to show up?
The event on a whole was pretty boring. Still, my biggest question is; how does one “judge” something as subjective as film?
I’m just glad that Juno got a few nods.

I'm now riding my old, beater 1967 Schwinn "Typhoon" with the huge, messanger-stlye basket on the front of it to work every day. I'm even running errands on it as well. Man, do those 4.1 miles (each way) seem a lot longer and a HELL OF A LOT HARDER on that thing, especially with a head wind. Still, the down hills are worth it. There is nothing like bombing a hill on an old tanker bike. Nothing.
Which reminds me, if you ever get the chance to rent (buy or borrow) a copy of the documnetary, Klunkerz do it! It pretty much covers the history of the Mountain Bike (which was done right here in Marin County)and is really interesting and fun. My buddy, John Pedersen's group; the Road Oilers has more than a few tunes in it and I even know a handful of the kooks in the film that were there (inadvertantly) making history.

As for me opting to ride the balloon tire bike over my titanium/carbon fiber bike is so typical of me trying to keep it simple. It seems most things in my life: transportation, surfing or whatever; One Fin, One Gear, One Kid, One World. I like it.

I had less than an hour to kill last night and I wasted that time watching TV. After I just wrote about how the writers strike is probably a good thing, less TV, blah, blah and I'm here writing about a lame-ass TV show.
Anyway, you wanna know what I wasted 40 minutes of my life on? A game show about being smarter than a grade school kid. If you haven't seen it, good! If you have seen it, do you feel as amazed by its stupidity as I do? Man, the questions were INCREDIBLY easy as they are for a bunch of grade school kids and, in this case one arrogant, ditsy blond who kept yammering on about every thought that bounced into her amply hollow head.
It seemed that every question that the host would ask the blond would boast on how she's really good at that subject and how she aced that course in college (must of been Whopper college)...and oh, the host is one of those "We're Rednecks" comedians from Comedy Central, Jeff Foxworthy; nice career move, Jeff. As if I didn't think you were funny in the first place, apparently you're not very bright either.

Now, I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer but I answered every-single-question correctly almost before good 'ol boy Foxworthy was done reciting them from his index card. I was like Kevin Bacon from the film, Diner when he was answering the questions for a game show he was watching.

The final question for a million bucks, no less was; "Who was the first pilot to break the sound barrier?" Geez-Louise! THAT was the million dollar question? What the hell!? How stupid have we become??? Why not ask, "Is the world round?"
I sat there bored, finger on the remote ready to change the channel when I mumbled, "Chuck Fucking Yeager. Everyone knows that."
Well, apparently not everyone knows that.
To my astonishment the blond begins to roll her eyes sky-ward and begins to tell everyone how her favorite museum is the Smithsonian Aerospace museum in D.C. and then she rattles off some pseudo list of great aviators out loud starting with the Wright brothers! The fucking Write brothers!!! C'mon, sweetheart we're talking the sound barrier here not the Flintstones for Christ sakes!
After she recites Charles Lindberg and Amelia Earhart she then says..."Hmm...Howard Hughes was the Spruce Goose.....hm. I think it was Howard Hughes.

I could of won a million dollars last night but I really don't want to meet Jeff Foxworthy.


By the way...R.I.P. In The Nite Press (1994-2007)
My new "self-publishing" aegis is now; EL COMEX PRESS.

I know that I am not the most fashionable guy around. Heck, my son continually reminds me of this. I own a few nice suits and I clean up good but I’m no fashion magnet.
Well, an incident that happened to me yesterday proved my son right.
It was around 1 pm and I was working away at my studio when I figured I needed a quick break. I heated up the few pieces of chicken quesadia I brought from home (yeah, I’m hopelessly Chicano) in the microwave and then decided to eat them while I take a long walk as I do a few errands around down town.
On my way back from the computer store I was carrying a plastic bag with my small purchases in it and eating the last, little piece of quesadia while walking along a frontage road between the freeway and the old, abandoned railroad tracks. I was on my way to pick something else up and then grab a coffee to go and head back to the studio for more work. It’s a nice little 35/40 minute walk.
Suddenly, to my left a new, white Mercedes Benz slows down and comes almost to a stop as the window rolls down. I hear a familiar voice; “Hey, Jaime! Is that you?”
I turn to look to see who is calling me from such a nice ride and I recognize an old acquaintance, Dave who was a customer of mine when I once owned a record store.
“Hey, Dave! Nice car, bro!” I answer back.
“You need a ride?” was Dave’s semi-concerned response.
“Naw, I’m just out running a couple of errands. Thanks anyway.”
“Are you doing okay?” Dave says a bit more seriously than before.
“What? I…huh?” was about all I could muster when it finally dawned on me what Dave was getting at. Dave thought I was homeless.
“What the fuck, Dave? I fine, bro. I’m just out enjoying the nice weather we’re having.”
Dave looked really embarrassed as we exchanged a few more pleasantries and before you knew it we were both on our separate ways.
As I was done with the errands and returning to my studio I caught a glimpse of my reflection in a store window. There I was with my full salt & pepper beard, glasses with dark ski cap, beater pants and beat-to-shit Converse and an old, dingy zip-up hoodie sucking on my coffee and carrying a white, plastic bag. All I needed was a shopping cart full of belongings. I laughed out loud upon seeing myself.
Man, no wonder my kid shakes his head at me sometimes.

Is it just me or are we better off with the writers strike? It seems that people may be watching less TV because of the striking writers (meaning; no new programming) and I feel that’s a good thing. I’m not trying to be high-minded or self-righteous here. I’m not one of those people with the “Kill Your TV” bumper sticker affixed to my ride. No. I like to view the Lava Lamp with sound (aka TV) every now-and-again but it seems to me that as a whole we watch far too much TV instead of reading or listening to music.
Then again I have also noticed how most people seem to have either a cell phone or an ipod attatched to thier noggins, far too busy to actually interact with other human beings...well, unless they are on the other end of the cell phone. I just worry that the collective critical thinking is getting as flabby as our bodies are.
I notice that most of the people I come in contact with talk about TV show’s more than anything else. The only other thing they may talk about more is what they found/saw on the internet….seems appropriate here, doesn’t it?
Ah, but what more should I expect? When I do turn on my TV just about every-other-morning to the local news to get some weather up dates I first get inundated with what really concerns our modern American culture: Brittney Spears. Man, I’ve walked through puddles deeper than that.

Is anyone else not even remotely interested in the Super Bowl this year (and I am a sports fan)? The only thing more dismal than the Super Bowl to me is the Presidential canidates that are left that we have to choose from. Circling the drain doesn't even begin to cover it.
Sorry to be so negative. I'm trying to have a bit of a reality check here.

I am currently recording music to include in the release of the comic book, Torilla. It will contain comix, some literature and a CD. Be afraid...be very afraid.

You’d think that I would get tired of being wrong all of the time and, well… you’d be right. So, someone actually reads my blog and I humbly stand corrected. I know of two friends who read this here blog, Yoli and Corbett and I thank them and stand corrected.

Other stuff…my studio is leaking more than ever as I now have two (2) leaks and it is impeding my progress with inking in my X-Ray magazine “Bagazine” project as well as inking in stories for the up-coming first issue of Torilla. I’m just going to have to deal with it and not whine. Things could always be worse and they have been before.

I was at the San Francisco Cartoon Art Museum again yesterday. Man, I really like what they have done and no matter what great exhibit they have going I always, ALWAYS head right for the George Harriman “Krazy Kat” strip first. I love his work so much I seem to never get tired of looking at it.
San Francisco, on the other hand has changed so much and so quickly in the past 15 years that it truly saddens me. The Dot.com (aka Dot.bomb) movement really decimated the place. I have lived in San Francisco, off-and-on pretty much my whole life and as I know that things change constantly I can’t seem to hang with this one.

Otherwise, I can’t wait for the rain to stop for a while and get back on my bicycle to ride to work and other places. To get back in the water and I can’t wait for the baseball season to start and for me to shut up now.

It’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve canceled my internet service at my studio. It was getting pretty frustrating paying what I did for the service only to have my 5+ year old crappy computer arbitrarily knock me off-line several times a day. The final blow was when my neighbor from across the hall had an AT&T repair guy come out to find out why his service went off-line (it was due to the storms we were having, btw) only to have his internet service restored but the moron repair guy disconnected mine and then left. You know how long it takes to get them to come back, right? So canceling it was the next logical step.
Now I do all of my emails and such from home. However, having a house full of teenagers often makes it difficult to gain access to the sole computer.
Speaking of teenagers, the other night my son was asking me why I even bother to blog since he’s had to listen to me go on and on about what a waste of time they are and how no one reads it anyway.
I laughed and had to agree with him that they are a waste of time and NO ONE EVER reads mine anyway. He then asked, “Why do it?”
My answer was that my blog serves as an electronic post-it, so to speak to give me a bit of insight into what useless crap I was preoccupied with at such-and-such time, etc. Basically, it’s just for me to look back upon months from now and think; “What the hell was that all about?”
I guess I can read what I posted on here years from now and I’ll see my face saying, “Get your ass to Mars.”

Things are finally clicking here again at the studio and I am flying along with my latest micro-comic book, Sueno Loco for the next Bagazine project. Speaking of Bagazine and the X-Ray Book Co. It is with the deepest and most sincere condolences I send along to Johnny and Giselle Brewton regarding the passing of Johnny’s dad this past December 3rd.

I’m still writing up new Slice O’ life strips and will hopefully have close to 10 of them completed by February. That’s written, roughed, edited, penciled, edited a bit more and then inked and then cleaned up, folks. A lot goes into just 1 strip so you can imagine the time it takes to do 10!

Also, a big thank you goes out to Gretchen Giles and her crew at the North Bay Bohemian up north in Santa Rosa, California for a wonderful Holiday party. A good time was had by all.

My studio leak still hasn’t been fixed as of this writing and the landlord was here from France yesterday and said when the weather clears it will get fixed. However, he is also in the middle of a deal to sell the building. This would make the 3rd landlord in just over 2 years here.

I have been contacted by Drew of Heebie Geebies/Boomerang gallery up in Petaluma, California for an art show this coming April. It’s all loose-ends right now but check back and I’ll keep you posted.
Also in April I will be part of a big poetry reading in San Francisco through the Galleria Posada in the Mission District. It is being put together by master writer, poet and luchador Norman Zelaya. I’ll be drawing up the flyers/posters as well as reading (!) poetry. Once again, stay tuned and I’ll let you all know when and where.

Well, happy New Year first of all. Another year has rolled around and lo-and-behold I’m still here! Never ceases to amaze me. I’m working on putting half of my studio back together since I’ve had a huge leak in the ceiling here in my ghetto-building studio. I suppose I should count my blessings as with the recent biblical down pours here in the Bay Area that was the least that could go wrong.
I’m still working on the new & (hopefully) improved Slice O’ Life strips and having a bit of a tough time since they are going to be shorter. No worries though, it’ll all work out. What with this leak it did slow my progress a touch with the limited run, micro-comic book I’m making for Johnny Brewton’s (www.xraybookco.com) Bagazine. Geez, I hope I’m not too late.
Music has been a little slow lately….aw, hell who am I fooling? It’s been pretty much dead-in-the-water for me. The Winos are on hold because of a sizable amount of bad luck that has befallen our bass player. We’ve played about 3 times in almost 8 months by my count. I had to quit the blues band up North for a few reasons but the main reason was that the rehearsals were being moved even father North and I just couldn’t do the commute. Then the casual cover band I’ve been playing bass in for just over 3 years has to keep canceling gigs because members are over booked in their personal lives that it’s getting more and more difficult to make paying gigs. After all of that I have lost all the calluses on my fingers for the second time in my nearly 30 years of playing stringed instruments (I started on another, non-stringed instrument at 7 years old which I played through high school and puts me into playing music for 40 years! GAD!) and what’s even sadder/lamer is I don’t really seem to care. I seem to only play my ipod these days. Someday I’ll dig some of my instruments out of where-ever they are and start playing again. Maybe that will be my plan for 2009. We’ll see.
Enough of my whining…everything otherwise is great. The family is good and my back seems to be…well, back! (ha ha).
I’ll try to write more soon for anyone out there that even keeps up on my lame-ass blog.

Chugging and wheezing to the end of another year. My back's been out for a week now so things are a bit slower than usual here at In the Nite Press HQ...as if any slower would be pretty much stopped or even reverse!
I'm still chugging along with the latest Bagazine project between bouts of laying on the floor. Also working up the new and hopefully improved Slice O' Life strips for the coming new year.
This year I hope to have some t-shirt designs that will be available on my website as well as at any conventions I may attend. Yeah, you read that right. I'm actually going out into the public like I used to do in the last century. You've been warned.
Hope the new year is better for you all and I'll try and get some stuff done in the off-chance that someone out there is even remotely interested.

I was laying on our couch last night reading while my wife was working on her laptop and simultaneously watching some forgetful television program (it amazes me how certain people can multi-task like that) when a commercial came on that had me slowly lower my book and squint over my reading glasses.
I was hearing the tune, Pressure Drop performed by the Clash (a great Toots and the Maytals song which I love both renditions, by-the-way) that had me wondering what could that song be doing on a mainstream American TV commercial? To my astonishment it was the background music for pimping a Nissan SUV.
Joe Strummer MUST be spitting and spinning somewhere I'm sure.

So Much For No Blogging

I said I probably wouldn't blog anymore deciding that they are a total waste of time but a friend just recently explained to me that they can also be useful for conveying news of my current shenanigans, so....
I went to the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco recently to see an old friend, Keith Knight talk about the K Chronicles and just basically catch-up with him and such since his moving to L.A.
I hadn't realized how much time had passed since Keith and I were in the same room together. He remembered my son as being a little guy and me and the family just moving out of S.F.
Well, my son will be 17 years old pretty soon and Keith is married to a wonderful woman, Kirsten who is now pregnant with their first child. Oh, how time flies!
It was good to see Keith and catch-up and laugh about all of the fun we had as San Francisco cartoonists during the second "Golden Era" back in the late 1980's Early 1990's we enjoyed along with pal's Brian Wilcox, Nina Paley, Hugo Kobiashi, Flower Frankenstein, Bruce Hilvitz, Ed Brubaker and all of the gang at Puppy Toss not-to-mention the now gone Comic Relief just a couple of blocks from our apartment.
Keith also gave me some (much needed) advice on my current strip, Slice O' Life and I am currently changing the format size wise (4 panels instead of 6 panels) and, as Keith recommended featuring myself in the strip as well. The first part is pretty easy for me to do however that second part is going to take some getting used too.
I am also working on a "one shot" mini-comic to go in the latest Bagazine published by the bad-ass himself, Johnny Brewton of X-Ray magazine down in Pasadena.
I am also re-vamping (i.e. adding more pages) to the very, severely, poorly distributed one shot comic book I did years ago entitled; Throb. It's a 28 page, 9 panels per page wordless story sort of on the lines of that book and animation, Zoom. Naturally I will self-publish it as soon as it's ready-to-roll.
...and finally, I will be working on a catch-all comic book entitled Tortilla this coming 2008 as well as possibly (I said possibly) putting out a "best of..." Slice O' Life collection from the original format.
Okay, that's all for now. Check back often as I promise to keep up the chatter on my end.

The more I think about it the more I realize that blogs are a total waste of time. Especially mine.

Barry Bonds has finally jacked the elusive #756 out of AT&T Park last night (into the deepest part of the park I might add) and as I watch the replay over and over I see the relief almost physically lift from the guy’s shoulders. I think that Barry is probably happier that it’s all over than the actual feat itself.
I was at AT&T (it was PacBell park then) for #600 and it was pandemonium then, so I can only imagine how it was last night. I’m not only excited that I have seen this record topped twice in my life time but that this time it was by a guy from my home team done by one of us. Now if we can just get a World Series win I can relax myself.
I don’t care what your opinion of Bonds is concerning juicing or not. The fact remains that there is NO steroid on the planet that can increase natural coordination and the eye-to-hand mechanics that it takes just to hit a baseball and Bonds has always had that. Hell, the guy is 43, bad knees and all and he still hits it pretty damn far.
It’s great to have this record here in San Francisco and done by a San Francisco Giant and by the son of an ex-Giant but if the world were a more perfect place and indeed just in every way as the anti-Barry Bonds people who are suddenly stricken by some high-mindedness and feel that they have been slighted by Bonds achievement then that would mean that George Herman ‘Babe’ Ruth, Hammerin’ Hank Aaron and Barry bonds would all still be chasing Josh Gibson’s record anyway, right?

Wait a second….just where in the hell does the bay area end and the rest of California begin? The lines are becoming very blurred these days and I’m not too sure anymore. I was north of Santa Rosa not so long ago and the folks up there were considering themselves part of the bay area (?) and last I checked the actual bay, which contains the water of the Pacific Ocean wasn’t even remotely close to this area.
Of course our state is being developed (raped) at an alarming rate these days and people are being squeezed into places that can’t possibly maintain them. A small example is the fastest growing town in the United States. The once sleepy little town of Lincoln, California (located east of Sacramento) has a population that has grown since the year 2000 from around 11,746 to the present day 39,566 and still growing (that’s 236% growth in less than 7 years folks)!
A childhood friend of mine and I used to go up there often since both his parents grew up there and his grandparents were still living there at that time and back then the population was somewhere around the size of a large high school.
At the rate California’s population is growing as everyone is still coming here for the American dream (Wake up! The dream died a few decades ago out here. Go some place else) pretty soon people as far North as Red Bluff, as far East as Sacramento and as far South as Watsonville will be considered as part of the bay area!

Yep, it's been one-solid-month since I last posted something on this blog. I was plenty busy for all of June and I was away in Europe for a good portion of July. Besides, I have always believed that the air between the music notes is just as important as the notes themselves.

Wake up, Lemmings!


Our current administration has been absolute on their stance in Iraq with no withdrawal in sight as well as the impending war with Iran, still feeling confident with the original decision of invading Afghanistan and pinning most of the blame of 9/11 on Saddam and the rest on Bin Laden and if that isn’t enough telling the citizens of these rapidly becoming un-United States, as a bill to hugely increase internet streaming services is about to be passed, building of more prisons is in effect, giving more money for military spending to Isreal than any-other-countries combined, whipping up the populace with phony immigration concerns while making it almost impossible to have any practical, coherent medical insurance for the average person and basically attempt to take away any remaining rights we as citizens have in the name of “Freedom” that our economy is strong and just fine.
This tells me that one should never, EVER doubt the power of suggestion.

One of the greatest things about this country of ours is that every-day-folks like me have the great opportunity to vote. I vote and I take it seriously. I vote on local measures as well as bigger initiatives all the way up to voting for the presidency. However, I like my vote to count, especially when concerning the latter. Guess I’m glad I don’t live in Florida, huh? (See: 2000 election).
What is bothering me the most in these gas-price gouging, excessive consuming, Paris Hilton/American Idol worshipping uncertain times is the presidential candidates we have to choose from. Personally, there is only one candidate who is running that I am even remotely in-line with politically and that candidate doesn’t stand a chance like a bucket of fried chicken at one of my family gatherings of even getting on the ballot. Every presidential election that I have voted in (with the exception of my first time) it always seems that I have to settle. Always! It’s like having three piles of stinking, dirty socks and I have to select the one pile that stinks least.
Yeah, I know it could be worse….or is it already on its way?

Sometimes you just have to stand back and gape in awe of where you live. Living here in Marin County one almost always has something to be in awe of. The natural beauty of the place is a good reason. We have the bay on one side and the ocean on the other with beautiful Mt. Tam between them. We have redwoods and wild life and wonderful weather to be sure. However, I'm talking about the other things that makes one pause and ponder. This morning is a prime example.
While walking to my studio I noticed a man probably in his early thirties riding his very high-end and expensive mountain bike. He was riding in traffic wearing most of the standard, dorky looking "super-hero" garb but what caught my attention was that he was peddling with no hands because his right hand was busy holding a lit cigarette and his left hand was holding a cell phone to his ear as he barked into the phone between chugs on his cigarette.
Man, sometimes I actually like this place.

Please! No more Paris Hilton! I don't know who she is, what she did or why anyone should remotely care. Just stop now. Please. Stop.

I’m a pretty easy going guy and have very few rules in life (the main rule being that there aren’t many rules and what few rules exist are generally subject to change at any moment). However one rule should always be implemented; if you are an adult male you should not wear any type of ball cap backwards unless you are catching a baseball/softball game (rally cap is fine here), riding a motorbike without a helmet (a bicycle on a windy day is okay too) or looking through the view-finder of a camera. And the older you are the worse it is.

I’m not too down with reunion tours. I look at them as about one step above “Tribute bands,” and several steps below French Pop music. My general experience with seeing bands on reunion tours was usually met with disappointment. I saw the Police, Gang of Four, Parliament/Funkadelic, War, the Pretenders, Tower of Power etcetera in their respective “hey-day(s)” and I thoroughly enjoyed them. I still enjoy listening to their music from time-to-time as well. An example of the point I am trying to make is this; I went to see Gang of Four a few years ago at the Fillmore for their “reunion tour” and though they were pretty tight for the most part they were nothing compared to how they were when I saw them back in 1979/1980. Frankly, they were not as vibrant as they once were and seemed to be trying way too hard to please. I left that evening wishing I had never gone. Maybe if it was my first time seeing them the experience would of been different, but I had seen them before and I felt somewhat cheated.

I never saw the Rolling Stones or the Who or even the Kinks in the 1960’s but I did see them in the 1970’s and they were great. However, I saw the Rolling Stones during their Bridges to Babylon tour (my old job. Long story, don’t ask) and, once again thought they were tight and such but it all just seemed so stilted and hokey to me. Mick was pretty stiff and looked pretty silly and good 'ol Keith... his age has finally caught up to his physical appearance.
A Stones show back in the 1970’s held a lot of weight and was considered quite the “Chic” thing to go to and be seen at. Now it seems like an over-priced nostalgia tour where for a wheel barrel load of money you can sit several miles away with a bunch of 60-year olds and watch specks on a platform stiffly move about under colored lights…..oh, and they’ll shoot off some fireworks at the end for ya.
Don’t even get me started on why they (the Stones) even bother to continue to record and release records. I feel that they could have stopped somewhere after Tattoo You and still have several ( and I do mean several) hours of “hit” material to play and that isn’t even counting the other stuff that they recorded that wasn’t a hit but is just as good if not better.

The drummer from the Police, Stewart Copeland stated recently that the opening reunion tour concert the Police just played in Vancouver, Canada, “…was lame.” Though I wasn’t there that very well could be an accurate statement. The Police haven’t been a band in over 20 years and frankly I’m not surprised that Mr. Copeland thought they came off lame.

It seems to me that in most cases it’s actually better to end on top than to continue on until one reaches mediocrity, or in bands such as the Police’s case perhaps this is one-too-many-trips to the well?

I still whole-heartedly encourage you to support music, art, film and literature locally as well as globally.

Priorities


I just returned from a coffee run and was glancing at the front page of the Marin Independent Journal (the news paper of Marin County where I live)while pouring my afternoon cup o' joe and it seems that even with April/May being the deadlist period of the Iraq war for the U.S. and Bush, in his infamous wisdom imposing new sanctions on Darfur (I'm still wondering who will have the guts to impose some freakin' sanctions on him!), five British citizens are kidnapped in Baghdad, U.S. Gerneral Peter Pace undercounts the American war deaths and Cindy Sheehan steps down from her protesting Bush and the Iraq war...it seems that all the Independent Journal can come up with for headlines is that Delta and Dawn the wayward whales are heading back out to sea and something about cows being shot in West Marin.

Circling the Drain

Lately I’ve been wishing and hoping that people would spend the same amount of time and concern with knowing more about the war in Iraq and all of the underhanded dealings the Bush administration has been pulling as they do with knowing all about professional athlete’s statistics and contracts and the results of American idol.
Then again, that would be like asking people to drive less, get off of their cell phones more and quit treating stop signs as mere suggestions.

Afternoon Siesta

This Friday, May 18 at 1:00 Pm (PST) Yours truly will be getting interviewed on Coastal Airwaves on the West Marin radio station KWMR. You can listen in on your computer by going to:

www.kwmr.org

Click on the "On Air" sign with the little cow on top of it and follow the prompters. What could be easier? An all pull-out from Iraq? Yeah, one would tend to think so, but....

I guess I’m more of a traditionalist than I thought.
I went surfing early this morning. By early I mean dark o’ clock early like usual. This is why it’s called dawn patrol. I was alone this morning which in these crowed times is more than unusual and I was also without my buddy, John who either drives out with me or meets me there.
I got to the sea wall as the sky was only beginning to turn from Indigo to a cobalt blue before becoming a sort of battleship gray and did my usual surf check with cup of coffee in hand. It was a nice, crisp morning as there was no wind to speak of and the full moon was disappearing and the stars beginning to fade. Very nice, indeed.
Anyway, to non-surfers a surf check is generally going by surf spots and seeing what the surf conditions are like. Good? So, so? Naw, I’m going back to bed and so on. Lately I’ve been noticing that this practice seems to be on the verge of becoming extinct.
I watched the swell for a while being aware that the tide was at slack and would soon be turning and coming up. I also noticed that a lot of sand was off of the beach and that sand bars were starting to form. The surf was breaking both right and occasionally left, 3’ to 4’ and only a couple hundred yards off of the wall itself. I haven’t seen it do this in quite some time and I was pretty stoked to be sure.
After about 25 minutes of observing the swell and making sure that it is consistent I suddenly noticed that guys were coming down to the beach with there wet suits already on, expensive boards under arms running for the break! “What the heck?” First, one lone guy and then two guy’s right after him and a couple of minutes later and two more guys. I didn’t know any of these people. When I drove up this morning I was the only person there and I was also the only person on the wall checking the conditions as well and now there are five people in the drink, without even looking just running into the surf ignorant as all hell.
Boy, was I ever missing John’s infamous smart-ass remarks at about this point. Being a couple of old guys, John and I have seen some funny shit happen at the beach over the years and it never fails that you almost always get some arrogant “new-be” not check the surf first and end up running down to the water in wetsuit and with the high-end board under the arm only to find it flatter than a pool table. We just shake our heads and chuckle into our coffees as the “new-be” either slinks off without looking at us, or they go out and bob around in the cold water as shark bait. “Yeah, showed us!”
I do realize that with free web sites and cell phones and all the other modern gadgets that people are finding out what the surf is like before they even see the water. Hell, it’s said that over half of the surf population doesn’t even live by the water! I once on a lark was able to check the surf at my local break from a computer when I was on vacation in the Peruvian mountains! It’s just that crazy now.
Still, I’ve just been a student of watching the weather and knowing my surf spots and how they work in certain weather conditions. This is what they call old school, I suppose. And let me tell ya’ this old school method has paid off as I’ve had plenty of great surf with just me or me and my friends because the computers were claiming it was flat or whatever it is they claim and we were out in the water enjoying quality surf.
After watching the Neoprene Lemmings flail into the water I figured I better get a move on if I want to get some surf myself. I returned to my truck and suited up. The funny part about all of this was that with the time I put in observing the surf this morning I still was able to surf for two hours alone in my spot because the other knuckleheads who were in such a hurry ran over to the usual, popular spot and fought with each other for a decent session. I, on the other hand enjoyed the morning alone with my thoughts and the ocean riding wave, after glassy wave.

I had just recently spent part of a day in my hometown. I actually drove and walked around a bunch of areas and places I spent a good portion of my childhood in and was amazed at how in one sense everything had changed and yet even the air seemed to smell and feel how I remembered it all of those years ago. I hadn’t done this since the mid-1980’s so it was quite an eye-opener.
After visiting a cousin I was shocked to hear how many kids we grew up with or went to school, little league or church with have either passed away from cancer, accidents or an alarming amount by there own hand--not to mention the ones who are now either incarcerated or homeless and live under freeways and push shopping carts.
I was also surprised to find out that the few people that had moved away are now back living in town again. What’s up with that? There seem to be very few of us who moved away and stayed away. I can count them on one hand.
There was one boy who I met in junior high school who was a very talented guitarist and preferred to play jazz over rock, which I found very cool and just so beyond what any of our other contemporaries were doing. He didn’t do drugs and was a really mellow, cool guy. My cousin had told me that he had passed away from a drug overdose a few years ago and I couldn’t believe it. My cousin also told me about a girl I had known since grade school and how she had died a while back from breast cancer. This was almost more than I could take.
During the long, multiple hour drive back to the bay area where I have been living for the better part of 25 years I had these two people on my mind the whole way and could see their young faces and how I remembered them as little kids, as high school kids and then how they looked when I had last seen them.
The next day I couldn’t get them out of my head so I tried to look them up on the internet.
I was elated that the boy I had known since junior high school is alive and well playing guitar in New York City and doing quite well too boot! However, I couldn’t find anything on the girl.
I guess this is all part of life. This is how it goes and one must take it as it comes. Everything is different and yet nothing has changed.