Image for December 7, 2011 - Hello Rudolph!

I got out for a quick two mile walk after work tonight. The air was full of wild energy because a storm front was moving in. The winds were whipping the trees around. Many of the houses in the neighborhood are well decorated with Xmas lights. There seem to be more then last year, which I take as a good sign that things are getting better. One yard had a lovely herd of reindeer lights with Rudolph in the lead. Guide us through the gloom Rudolph!

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Image for December 6, 2011 - Xmas Card Blast From the Past!

Way back in 1994, before the internets (well, before the net was available to "normal" people) and Facebook and all this new fangled crap that makes our lives so extra special these days, I would send out post cards to invite folks to art shows or, in this case, to celebrate a holiday. I made this card exactly seventeen years ago today. Made it by hand, no Photoshop kids, just me and an X-acto knife and a glue stick. That's not a photo of me, but an image that I found somewhere and added my style of facial hair. Funny thing is, re-reading this card all these years later, I'm still not ready for Xmas... OK HW

Note- click images to enlarge.

Image for December 3, 2011 - How These Things Get Done...

I have mentioned on here from time-to-time about a project I am working on to collect my old underground comic from the late 1980s called "Reluctant Sadist". Considering the glacial pace that I have been moving on this project, I should just call it "RELUCTANT" and turn it into a performance art piece. I was going great guns gathering materials and scanning all the art work and contacting folks from the past securing permissions to use their words and images and then I came to the hard part of the project; ACTUALLY WRITING THE DAMN THING. Through the years, I have grown lazy in my creative work habits and throw on top of that distractions like the internets and the sad result is not much to show. Part of my problem too is I haven't been able sustain the effort. Sure, I have been able to achieve little victories here and there, but then I'll have a gap of months with no work and I lose the flavor of the thing. Today, I decided to commit to half an hour a day to the project, even if it's just research or reading, I need to keep my ass in the chair with the materials in front of me for that thirty minutes. Now, that doesn't sound like a lot of time, but you'd be surprised at how much can be accomplished in those thirty minutes. I also find that I often work well beyond that period, as I did today, because the hardest part for me is often just getting started. Here's my work table, I need to spread out. I also have three different notebooks open for other notes because I usually get ideas for other projects; short movies, comix stories, this year's Xmas card, etc; and I make sure to capture them all.  I also took this photo to document how I work, as I enjoy seeing other people's work and studio spaces. What's your workspace look like?

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Image for November 27, 2011 - The Wagoma-Babuye

The day started with a little quiet drawing time. I've always been attracted to African masks. They are mysterious and powerful objects. I am ignorant of African tribal history, so I make my choices purely on gut-reaction. I picked this one because I thought it was funny (no disrespect to the Wagoma-Babuye of Zaire). Woooooooo-wooooooo-wooo...

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Image for November 26, 2011 - The Santa Menace

Here he comes, are you ready? That Ho-Ho happy man that will make you empty your wallet, maybe even go into debt. He'll make you eat too much and drink too much and surf up long-lusted for childhood toys on ebay. His massive, unavoidable form will obliterate everything else and even though you have the best intentions to do things different this year, ultimately, it never works, so you find yourself shellshocked and whimpering into your eggnog while watching It's a Wonderful Life [Blu-ray] for the hundredth time. It's OK really, because I'm right there with you. I have a love-hate relation with the bearded one and the season. My favorite part is decorating the tree. I still feel that glow of happiness as we transform our living room into a mini-shrine of Xmas joy. Still do the stockings. Still hang-up the Xmas cards. Once all the gifts are bought, wrapped and shipped, I can settle down and enjoy the madness.

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Image for November 23, 2011 - I Love Fall

I got out for a seven mile hike today. It rained in the early morning and stayed gray and a little gloomy even after the rains moved out. That was fine by me because I love fall. I love the gloomy weather, the leaves turning color and falling, blowing in the wind. Sometime I even love the shorter days. The long nights are good for curling up and reading or watching old movies. Fall always makes me nostalgic, and memories of old friends, some now gone from this world, play through my mind and remind me that our time here is short. I came across this leaf on the walking path and nearly passed it by as the heart-shape is over done, but then I turned around and snapped this shot. I did it because I needed a sign, something positive and hopeful. Another reminder that there is always love in the world, I just have to see it.

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Image for 11-17-11 - OZZY!

Quick, pop quiz, what four-letter word would you choose to immortalize in concrete? Whatever it is, I'd be surprised if it was "OZZY". This bit of sidewalk graffiti is on a driveway along one of my regular walking routes. I always look at it and wonder how old it is and who did it. My guess is it was a teen-aged male, probably a loner who wore glasses and didn't get along with his Dad. Oh yeah, and he was a virgin, which is telegraphed by the bold underlining. I'm curious if whom ever scrawled that tribute is still around and visits their handy work. Do they still listen to Ozzy? Are they are the "Crazy Train"?

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A Good Weekend It Was...

I have gotten out of the groove with posting. Plenty going on, I have just been lazy about getting anything on here. Let's catch up.

November 4, 2011

Friday was a blustery day with heavy winds coming right out of the north. It was almost like a Nor-easter, but no rain. The Chesapeake Bay was heaving with six foot waves that crashed right up to the seawall of the homes on the beach.

November 5, 2011

The winds were still blowing when I got up Saturday morning. The day started out good with a solid seven mile hike, but when I got home and took a shower, the water stopped going down the drain. Drag. I tried a few things to clear the line, but no joy, so I had to call in the big guns. We went with Roto-rooter and they sent a friendly guy named Robert out who worked hard to clear the drain and succeed after wrestling with getting that snake down the clean-out pipe. That wasn't how I meant to spend my day, but it had to be done. The joys of being a homeowner.

November 6, 2011

Today began with an extra hour courtesy of daylight savings. Newspaper in bed, then a big breakfast. With my hiking goal looming (I have 101 miles left on 700 miles by year's end), I laced up the boots and hit my usual seven mile route. The sun was shining and the winds had died down from the last couple of days. The trees around here are in full autumn blaze. I love me some fall.

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Image for October 21, 2011 - Early Morning Beach Hike

I got up early today and got a quick two mile hike in on the beach. Now that the warm weather is done, the beach has been abandoned to the joggers and dog owners and wanders. I had Peter Gabriel's soundtrack from "The Last Temptation  of Christ" (The Passion) on the iPod and it was the perfect way to start this weekend. I am off today, taking a long weekend.

I also came across this huge jellyfish washed up on the beach. The low morning sun made it's transparent shape looked like some alien being, at least to my mind.

Have a great weekend!

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A Friend of a Monkey is a Friend of Mine...

I am an animal lover. I particularly love primates of all kinds. Monkeys, Gorillas, Chimpanzees, big, small, tail, no-tail, doesn't matter, I feel a special connection to our hairy little siblings. A couple of years ago, I stumbled across an article about the good folks at the Jungle Friends Primate Sanctuary in Florida. Their mission is to,

"...provide permanent, high-quality sanctuary care for abused or unwanted New World primates from around the United States who have been cast-off from the pet trade, retired from research, or confiscated by authorities."

Monkey's are highly intelligent and social beings, so it breaks my heart to read on the web site some of the sad, cruel experiences that they experienced before they found their way to the sanctuary. This year I decided to sponsor a monkey, Miki-Moo and have added Jungle Friends to my list of worthy causes. If you have read this far, then you know what's coming, I know times are tight, but consider throwing these folks a few bucks. They do good work and deserve the support.

I'll leave you with a little monkey video from the Jungle Friends web site and a quote from the comedian Steven Wright:

"If you had a million Shakespeares, could they write like a monkey?"

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Double Rainbow!

This evening an intense storm rolled through the area setting off the severe weather robots on the radio and creating some groovy patterns on the Doppler radar. At one point the angry clouds parted and the sky took on a weird peachy hue. I looked out the front window and was greeted by the sight of a rainbow, so clear and vibrant that I pulled my shoes, grabbed the camera and ran outside. It was a full rainbow, with well-defined ends going to the horizon on both sides. Then I noticed the faint ghost of a second arc on the outside of the main rainbow. SCORE! DOUBLE RAINBOW!

I quickly took some pictures and then flipped the camera into video mode because I couldn't get the entire rainbow in one shot. My camera work leaves a little to be desired, but I think the video captures the moment much better then the still does. A few minutes after I shot this, the rainbow was completely gone, leaving only a small lesson behind. The magic doesn't last forever, so grab it when you can,

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A Monstrous Weekend

Little Eddie Commands!

Last Saturday I stopped in to MONSTER FEST, a one day monster movie gathering in Chesapeake, Va. It is a sweet, old-school event that is more interested in Frankenstein and Godzilla and Wolfman, then the latest torture porn crap that serves as a horror film these days. They have a costume contest for the kids, young and old and do an all-night movie marathon and of course panel discussions on everything from how to write a horror novel to documentaries on horror show hosts like Dr. Madblood and The Bowman Body. It always takes me back to my childhood of staying up late to watch the old Universal horror films and rainy afternoons pouring over Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine.

 One of my favorite things this year was getting to see a replica of the Munsters Koach! This full-size, street legal beauty was built by Rucker Posey out of Richmond, Va and he's also built the other Munster rides. Check out his web site for more info. Rob Floyd and the other folks who organize MONSTER FEST did a great job this year. It's a great way to kick-off October and the Halloween season.

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Munsters Koach

Image for September 26, 2011 - A Long, Soggy Hike

The Osprey Trail, First Landing State Park

I got out over the weekend for an extra long hike of twelve miles. It's been too long since I've challenged myself on the trail. All the two and five and seven mile hikes are fine, but the longer hikes are another game all together. Different pains can develop, this time the ankles are still sore. Mentally, twelve miles or more can be much more difficult as doubts creep in and can sap your energy. My strategy for handling long distances is to look at the map and break the trail into parts and create smaller, digestible chunks. There's an old saying, "When you eat an elephant, start with the tail." I like to design-in a series of little victories that I can swing from and build upon if the hike is more difficult then I expect.

Saturday's hike was a familiar one, though I had never done it from the Virginia Beach Ocean Front to home, always left from the house and headed east. It was a rainy, super humid day and I had the rain gear deployed for what good it did. I have yet to find rain gear that will keep the weather off of me, but will breath enough so that I'm not stewing in my own sweat ten minutes into the hike. One thing I've learned about hiking in the rain, is you can only get but so wet. No need to bitch about it, just pull up and the hood and start swinging your boots. The first part of the hike took me through First Landing State Park, or as we locals call it Seashore State Park. I took the Long Creek trail into the woods, then branched off for a bit on the Osprey trail to enjoy the shore line and to take in the biggest hill climb in the park, before rejoining the Long Creek Trail. One benefit of hiking in the rain is having the trail to myself and that was true except for one lone jogger and a couple of kayakers to break the solitude. Coming out of the park, I picked up the Cape Henry Bike Path and felt like a caveman shocked at the rush of traffic on Great Neck Rd. One aspect of this hike that I enjoy is the variety of environments that are traversed; from forest to suburbs and the option of a beach hike at the end. This time the rain and wind kept me off the beach, so when I came over the Lessner Bridge, I stayed along the road and picked up an extra mile or so detouring through Bayville Park. In a little over three hours, I had made it home. Soggier for my efforts, but with a renewed spirit and confidence that the next time I'm off for a hiking adventure in Scotland or wherever that I'll have what it takes to go the distance.

Happy Trails!

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Happy Belated Birthday BILL MURRAY!

It was Bill Murray's sixty-first birthday yesterday! His humor has meant a lot to me through the years and he's still one of my favorite actor/comedians. I grew up watching Saturday Night Live, started watching it live from the first episode. Bill Murray started as a writer on the show and made the cast in the third season when Chevy Chase left. Here's a clip of Bill doing his Nick The Lounge Singer schtick. Enjoy!

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