February 28 - Well, that was fun. After painting
mural pieces for seven hours in our freezing cold garage here at WOMP Central, I
got some sort of nasty, achy cold. As I tried to warm up, I watched the
dismal 77th Oscar ceremonies. I don't know whether it was my cold, or the
worst Academy Awards since Rob Lowe sang a duet with Snow White, but something
hit me like a wet sack of cement, and I went down! I was
asleep by 11:00 at night, and I slept until just after 11:00 this morning (the
28th). Yowza! I have very rarely gotten that much sleep. My
body must have needed it. Oh, and I had the craziest dreams. No more
"End of The World" stuff for me now, I guess. It was all antique wigs and
Peter Ustinov and hollow cats and little purple children in India and lime green
pajamas and cars with at least six wheels and some sort of danger which kept us
on the run, even as we continued to shop for masks! Man! I was happy
to wake up just so I could get some rest! Anyhoo, it's needless to say
(which, by the way, has never stopped me) that I slept right through any chance
of posting an entry in the ol' WOMP-Blog last night. Now, after an
unusually busy "art" day, I am almost too whipped to post anything tonight
either. As you may remember, I've been helping out with the local Middle
School play, designing sets and whatnot. Today I answered a frantic plea
for a little last-minute help with some set elements. I drew some stuff
and outlined a few things (and volunteered to take a few more tasks home with
me). I will probably go back tomorrow and help some more. Their
first performance is on Thursday, which is scary enough...but their second (and
last) performance on Friday will be attended by an unexpected guest;
the author of the play!!! UGH! Talk about
pressure! Anyhoo, after an hour or so there, I went over to the local
gambling boat to draw caricatures. This is about the fourth or fifth time
that they've had me there as a "reward" for the employees who'd met their quotas
and such. Tonight, it was the beverage servers department, so there were
far fewer people to draw than usual, like fifteen or twenty (some departments
have over 100 employees). I drew only about a dozen or so faces, but
everyone had fun, so I guess that's the point. Now, I am watching
The Matrix Revolutions, having just watched
The Matrix and The
Matrix Reloaded right before. Believe
it or not, I've never seen any of them (although I have seen snippets of the
original film), so this has been pretty cool. I will leave you for the
night so that I may see how it all ends. Tomorrow, I hope to post the 1870
article upon which my mural is based. Until then, sweet
dreams!
February 26 - Humpf.
Whsshh. Humpf. Whsshh. I have been painting mural panels in
our completely un-heated garage, and I am so cold that
ice has formed in my nose!
When I breath, it sounds like "Humpf. Whsshh." My ears hurt, my
fingers hurt, and the paint is not drying properly, so I think I am done for
today. The cold has also made me feel quite stiff (ooh..my hands REALLY
hurt), so I think I'm going to just go to bed before I get sick. How
glamorous this artist's life is! Ah, it almost makes me long for the days
when I slaved away in a steaming hot laundry room for five years. Even on
the coldest Winter days, I would have the window open just to keep it a
temperate 100 degrees in that little sweatshop! The garage, in contrast,
is a balmy 11 degrees in temperature. Brrr...I'm going to get an extra
blanket to take with me when I hit the hay. See ya
tomorrow!
February 25 - Hello! Another
jam-packed day, which predictably included both of the elements of other recent
days, namely the dumb "real" job and the time-swallowing museum mural.
I've said it before, but it was never more true than now; whenever I have
something interesting to share with you, I don't have the time to do it because
I'm so busy working on whatever is so interesting. That's probably why I
feel compelled to blather on and on during the less interesting times.
SIGH. Well, I gotta get back to it. See ya!
February 24 - Shhh.
Please. I have a whopper of a
headache tonight, no doubt caused at least in part by a stint at the dumb "real"
job. Also, at the tender age of 114 years young, my face is breaking
out. Weird. I am starting to believe that the stress of the mural
thing is getting to me. Back in
my...UGH...headache....back in my
community theatre directing days, I'd be a medical wreck by opening night,
suffering stress related conditions like swollen joints, "cricked" neck, and
general dyspepsia (who, coincidentally, I understand will be the new villain of
the next Star Wars film, Revenge of The
Sith). Well, I still have to get back to work, so I will leave
you for now, I guess. Thanks for being so quiet!
February 23 - More mural stuff
tonight, as predicted. It's been rough going so far, although I have just
had an awesome breakthrough! I've been struggling with the scope and scale
of the mural versus its eventual surroundings, but, mere moments before I sat
down to the keyboard, I had a very satisfiying vision of the final
product! I also have been looking for a way to avoid drawing any
horses. As the events I am to depict revolved around a parade in February
of 1870, it should be an extremely equine-centric scene. However, as some
of you out there may know, I hate drawing horses. Yes, yes...I know that I
always suggest that an artist should force his-or-herself to draw the things
that they hate, but I was talking about practice artwork...not public murals
EIGHT FEET BY TWENTY FEET in size! Anyhoo, I had better get back to
it. Have a great day!
February 22 - Work is starting to
pile up on me all of a sudden. I've got to get this mural thing done
sooner rather than later because I've got a whole bunch of projects breathing
down my neck! ACK! Obviously, I won't be done by the 21st
(yesterday) as I had predicted, so I am now shooting for March 1st, which is
somewhat appropriate as it will mark the 135th anniversary of the newspaper
article upon which the mural is based! Due to the surprising amount of
time that I am scheduled to work at the dumb "real" job between now and then, I
should warn you in advance that I probably won't post much here in the ol'
WOMP-Blog for awhile (sigh of
relief?). In keeping with that schedule, tonight will be the last
night for "Ideas From a Hat" for a bit. When things
settle down, I will set up the dedicated page for the I.F.A.H. (middle of March?), after
which I will update the list every once in awhile. Hopefully they will
come in handy for some of you at some point. Oh, and speaking of up-dating
things, I have a growing list of up-dates needed on the WOMP-Site, and I have no
idea when I am going to get the time to address THAT. How does that saying
go? "The busier I am, the behinder I get?" I
live in a constant state of behinder. That
in mind, I go! Here, then, more "Ideas From a
Hat" -
The Redaction of Private Zone
Limited Time Offer
Angst For Breakfast
Line By Line
Sans Serif
Keeping Pace
Gorillas In The Midst
New Zealand Non-Stop
Playing Safe
The Twelfth Solution
Mate In Five Moves
Gum Arabic
The Jobber
When The Stream Floods
Hell In A Handbasket
February 21 - Not much going on today
in the Land of WOMP. I had to go in to the deadly-dull "real" job, so much
of the day was eaten up by that. It was a little odd there, too.
Because of the various art projects and such that I have had on my schedule for
the last month or so, I haven't been on the "real" job schedule very much, so I
have barely seen any of my co-workers in weeks! One of them has hidden
from me for MONTHS! It must have been something I said. As I have
mentioned before, I have the good fortune to work with people whom I really
like, so, as I am slowly phasing out the need for a "real" job, I feel like I am
abandoning friends who may still need my help. Ugh. I will have to
do something nice for all of them (especially co-worker Mary. She and
Frank, her husband and fellow Official Friend of
WOMP, are expecting their first rugrat this Summer. I will have
to think of something fun to get them for baby). I've had a lot of jobs
during my 114 years on this Earth, and, whenever I can, I still hang out with
some of my former co-workers from just about each of them. As time goes
on, I've realized how lucky I have been in my employment. That's not to
say that I didn't have a couple of bad jobs or rotten co-workers, but, on the
whole, I would say that I have truly liked at least ninety-eight percent of all my co-workers, past
and present. If I ever do go full-time with just the Art Job, I think that
I will miss the adventures of laboring alongside someone, making jokes about the
boss, supporting each other during the busy season...and rough times. Oh,
well, at the rate I'm going, I won't have to worry about it for a few more
decades anyway. OK, now a few more "Ideas From a
Hat" -
A Little Treason
Dewey For President
The Phenis Nerve Beverage Co.
Wonderfilled
A Pier At Dragon's Teeth
Devoted Enemy
Grandma's Corvette
Pen Knife
12:43PM
Backwash
The Hidden Armband
The Last Week of December
The Jade Green Hemingray
Historic Impact
Elvish Presley!
February 20 - Well, that was quite a
race! As you all may or may not know, WOMP H.Q. is also Daytona 500 H.Q.
during The Great American Race. Well, I suppose Daytona, in Florida, is
technically the H.Q. of the Daytona 500,
but WOMP Central has to be a close second
choice. Anyhoo, I spent the day watching racing, typing stuff, researching
my mural, and other miscellaneous whatnot. The mural project is much more
difficult than I had at first imagined. Not the drawing or painting part,
but the research part. The mural, which will accompany a display honoring
our community's early German immigrants, is to be based on a crazy 1870 article
from our local newspaper. Most of the article is a pretty straight-forward
retelling of the events of a wild parade/masquerade ball/dinner/dance (and I
mean WILD!), but some of the specifics of the details were unfamiliar to
me. For example, descriptions of the costumes included such "famous"
characters as Lola Montes on a black horse, men in Tyrolese dress, Don Cresar de
Bazan, a "Daughter of the Regiment," and Gambrinus. Thank goodness for
Google! Here, for your enrichment, are the results of my
Googling;
Lola Montes - A beautiful courtesan,
lover of both Franz Liszt and King Ludwig The First of Bavaria.
Tyrol - A picturesque mountainous
area in Austria; inhabitants wore elaborate traditional
costumes.
Don Cresar de Bazan - An operatic role,
popularized at the time by Edwin Booth.
Daughter of the Regiment - Sort of a cross between an
idealized female mascot and a field nurse.
Gambrinus - Patron "Saint" (and
supposed "inventor") of BEER, featured in many early beer ads and
logos.
I may have to actually crack a book (GASP) to find visual
references, but at least I now know what they were talking about. Oh, and
speaking of "what they were talking about," I wanted to give you all a quick
up-date on just what the whole "Ideas From a Hat" thing is (some new readers,
like freshly minted Official Fish of
WOMP, Debi Boss, probably are quite confused by the incoherent lists
at the end of recent entries). The I.F.A.H. are little
idea helpers for when you are stumped creatively. Use them as they are,
change them, be inspired by what they suggest, be scornful of how stupid they
are, whatever. The concept is just to randomly pull, say, three of these
potential titles or themes from a hat, then see what you can come up with from
at least one of them. This can be quite handy when you are having Writer's
Block, even if you don't end up using them in any way other than to get you to
think. When I get about 100 or so written down here in the ol' WOMP-Blog,
I'm going to make a dedicated page for them, along with some sort of
random-number generator so that you can electronically/metaphorically "pull them
from a hat." Until then, feel free to close your eyes, scroll down with
your mouse, and point to the screen! When you open your eyes, your finger
will be closest to the title of your next masterpiece! So, here they are,
tonight's "Ideas From a Hat" -
The Cool Side
Shipping and Handling
Gutter Stars
Jump Start
Circuitbreaker
The Order of Things
Wrestling With Reality
Stage Mom
Battle Of The Blands
Slipcover
Labels
The Last Magician
A Faded Sign
Ring Around The Rosie
Fossils Trapped In Stone
February 19 - So, I went to the
performers showcase at the area librarian conference. This was a first for
them, and it was well attended and presented. Every year, to share
resources and plan events, the local library system comes up with a Summer
reading program theme. This year's is going to be Dragons,
Dreams and Daring Deeds. Since my comic books
fall into at least the daring deeds portion of that, I got the invite to present
a fifteen minute version of my The Adventures
of COMICS! workshops.
Unfortunately, I followed a clown's wife ("Twinkles" was unable to attend due to
injuries received in a tragically-hilarious banana-peel accident), a very
talented singer-songwriter, a theatre director and storyteller, and a
magician! By the time I got to the stage, it was like being the act that
followed The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show. As predicted, I stumbled
through a brief overview of my "show," clumsily drew a few terrible cartoons,
and limped off, desperately trying not to drop all of my stuff as I made way for
yet another magician. Fortunately, I was able to talk to a few of the
librarians after that, and I had just enough of my brochures to set out for
others. It was a little nerve-wracking, like I was on Librarian Idol. It has been a long
time since I have been in a head-to-head "contest" like that. I always
stink at real competition (not that it was necessarily a "competition," but,
let's face it, libraries don't have a lot of extra money laying around, so we
were in a form of competition). I get flustered when I realize that I
actually might have something to lose...or gain. In a perfect world, I'd
be able to present these programs for anyone who wants them, all without
charge. That would be awesome...but, of course, I "don't live in
Perfect." Besides, you guys all know by now that I give up a pretty hefty
chunk of time donating my "talents" throughout the year. It probably
accounts for as much as twenty-five percent of all that I do
artistically...maybe more. Hmmm....I think I'm feeling guilty about
charging as much as I have because the singer-songwriter was charging a fraction
of that, and HE was feeling guilty about that, adding "But if that doesn't fit
your budget, give me a call anyway, and we'll work something out."
Ugh! How can I "compete" with a saint? After he said that, anyone
else saying the same thing would have seemed disingenuous...thank goodness that
I actually have that sentiment printed RIGHT IN MY BROCHURE! Whew! I
may be no saint with a guitar and a mind for children's music, but I really do
want to help people more than I want to make money. Is it wrong of me to
try to do both if possible? Oh,
well. Someday I will have all of this stuff figured out. Until then,
"Ideas From a Hat" -Vanilla Extract
It Used To Be
My Brother, The Troll
Bonding
Opinion Soup
Sea of Fire
Small Business
Sandbur
Running With Scissors
At The Speed Of Lie
The Goose That Laid The Golden Bomb
The Scar Within
Ten Years Her Senior
Buildup
Hegira
February 18 - OOPS! Another
night of accidentally falling asleep early. It's about 7:00AM on the 19th
as I write this, and I am just going to bed. I'll fill you all in as to
what happened at the performers showcase later tonight. See ya
then!
February 17 - Hidee-Ho,
everybody! I'm getting myself ready for my big presentation tomorrow for
the local librarians' conference. I will be able to give an abbreviated
version of my The Adventures of COMICS! workshop lecture to the
gathered throng, and that's a really good thing. The problem is, I have
only fifteen minutes, including set-up and
take-down, to make an impression! ACK! I have virtually no idea how
I'm going to accomplish that. I think that I'm going to draw while I talk
(that will help), probably asking the audience to help me draw a quick comic
strip (which usually goes pretty well). Of course, in actuality, I will
probably just babble incoherently for twelve minutes or so, dripping with
flop-sweat, then drop all of my stuff as I try to leave. I will let you
know how things went tomorrow night. For now, I'd better get some
sleep. Until tomorrow, then, here are more "Ideas From a
Hat" -
Katherine The Grape
College Ruled
The Many
Petty Theft
An Open Course
The Better Angels
If April Were A Woman
The Diploma
A Careless Jazz
Replacement Parts
July Snow
4 Weeks Later
The Double Wedding Ring
The Smallest Globe
Master List
February 16 - I can not wait for the
Sin City movie!!! It looks
awesome!!! I've seen two sneak previews now, and each one has left me with
the impression that they "got it right." Hopefully, with Mr. Frank
Miller's heavy involvement in the movie's production, the story will also be
"right." For you kids out there who don't know anything about Sin
City, I don't want to spoil your possible future viewing of the film,
except to say that you most definitely should read the comics upon which it is
based! They are easily among the best comics ever produced, but, be
warned; they are for grown-ups. I could go on and on about Sin
City and Frank Miller...so I
will! Mr. Miller is one of The Four Horsemen of My Influence,
artists whose work I most admire and whose creative success I most hope to
emulate (the others are Jack Kirby, Will Eisner, and Alan Moore). His
early work, marked by thought-provoking layouts and exciting storytelling, hit
me like a shotgun-blast right in the gut when I was a high school kid. My
first "real" comic, produced (with Official Friend of
WOMP, William Waite) in the Summer between my Sophomore and Junior
years in school, was, in truth, largely a fan-letter to Mr. Miller and his
work. That was years before Sin
City. Today, Mr. Miller has become synonymous with Sin
City's gritty, high contrast, black
and white artwork, but longtime fans may remember that he has employed a
remarkable series of different styles for his projects over the years. His
work on Daredevil was unique, and certainly a
great example, but it was basically drawn in a traditional superhero
style. When he wrote and drew the legendary Wolverine mini-series, he employed a
slight variation, inspired in great part by classic Manga, such as Lone
Wolf and Cub. For his first
non-Marvel, non-mainstream work, Ronin (which was actually a DC
mini-series), he surprised his fans with a completely new, quirky, scratchy
style which was equal parts Moebius, traditional Japanese illustrated
manuscript, and earthy sci-fi. When he produced his seminal work,
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, he once
again showed his capacity to shock his growing legions of fans. The iconic
and groundbreaking art was a powerful match to the even more powerful story,
both marked by a sense of weight, power, and human drama set against the
inevitable end-stories of Pop Culture gods. Nothing, though, prepared any
comics fan for the impact of Sin
City. Of course, Mr. Miller did not invent the high-contrast
style, any more than he invented the superhero, Manga, or other styles that
influenced him, but he took the concept to a special extreme, highlighting the
nature of the stories he wished to tell. That, in the end, I believe is
the secret to his particular genius. Each project is a special work for
him, completely thought out from the ground up. He isn't just redecorating
the house. He's not even remodeling it. He's blowing up the old
house, re-landscaping the lot, and constructing a completely different, brand
new house from scratch each time!!
Although many great artists have had significant style changes during their
careers, I can't think of any other for whom changing styles actually
became his style. As a whole,
his works still have a thread of visual similarity, of course, but the wide
spectrum of artistic style that emanates from Frank Miller's portfolio is, in
spite of its variety, made even more cohesive by his remarkable, peerless
storytelling. In that way, he has elevated the artform from it's
illustration-art roots, putting the emphasis on the true heart of the comic book
artform. Of course, that's just my opinion. What do I know?
Now, more "Ideas From a Hat" -
Hit It
Priority Status
A Welcome Stranger
Branch Office
Vigilance Is My Charge
In The Eye Of Danger
My Last Barf
16 Snakes In The Office Pool
Tongue
The Construction Of Ed
Daily Herald
Cheap Sympathy
Antebellum
Better Than You Know
Remember/Forget
February 15 - So I'm already two days
behind on my mural schedule. I don't think that I've ever been able to
stick to my original schedule for any project in my life. Fortunately, I
can just reschedule myself. Anyhoo, I am at it tonight, so I kinda have to
get back to it. So, with that bit of copping out, I leave you with more
"Ideas From a Hat" -
Lilly White
On Highridge Road
Black now Gray
But Who Wakes The Bugler?
Logjam
Illinois Rising
Don Coyote
In The General Vicinity
Solemnize
No Purchase Necessary
Animal Behavior
A Penny Earned
Navigations
1265 Lombardi Avenue
Jumpdrive For My Love
February 14 - Happy Valentine's Day! Well,
of course, I can't find those "Ideas From a Hat" anywhere. I suppose that
I can think up some new ones, but I know that the moment I do, I'll find the
originals. That, and there are like a hundred of them. Besides
Her Eyes Spoke of Autumn, the only
other ones I can remember are Daguerreotype (which Mr. Eric
Gillitzer has already used as springboard for an extremely memorable short
piece) and Me, Joe, and MARS, The
God of War (which I remember because it
was easily the worst one of the bunch). Let's try something. For the
next week or so, I will end each entry with a handful of new "Ideas From a Hat," after
which I will create a dedicated page for all of them (and, hopefully, the
originals as well) for anyone to use. Before I start that tonight, I
wanted to thank the good people of Famous Dave's Restaurant in La Crosse,
Wisconsin, for the gift of a free dinner...just for being me! That made my
Valentine's Day! That, and being married to the greatest gal on
Earth! Of course, every day is
Valentine's with her! Now, some "Ideas From a
Hat" -
Lucky, Lucky
A Simple Fog
Esther So-And-So
The Objective Was Fear
The Skepticals
Glass Breaks
Red, White, and Blues
The Restitution of Time
It Was Yours, Right?
A Pride of Liars
Soto Voce
The Resident President
The Art Deco Toaster
Chilblains
Cartes de Visite
February 13 - Sorry, gang...I've been
burning the candle at both ends, and I finally got burnt today when I was
unexpectedly called into work at the ditzy "real" job. Since I've been
home, I've finished some art stuff, and just sat down, too whipped to write
anything here in the ol' WOMP-Blog. Maybe tomorrow. See ya
(?)!
February 12 - Hi, e-friends. I
have finally returned to WOMP H.Q. after a crazy long day of helping my
brother-in-law, Mike, move a gigantic vintage file cabinet across
Wisconsin. We had a schedule all figured out which, even assuming we'd
fall as much as an hour behind, would have returned us here by 6:30pm. It
is now 1:05am on the 13th! We should have known that the trip was going to
be eventful when, right as we began to
hook up the trailer, Mike's Jeep caught fire! After some panic and frantic
scrambling through a nearby antique store for a fire-extinguisher, we traced the
problem to the wiring leading to the trailer-light hook-up. Well, a crazy
series of events took place from then on, but, somehow, we delivered the
monstrous piece, installed it, repaired it, and made it back home. Now,
even though I'd hoped to have posted the "Ideas From a Hat" here in the ol'
WOMP-Blog, I think I'm going to just go to bed instead. See
ya!
February 11 - Not much to talk about
tonight, I guess...and I'm pretty whipped from a long stupid day full of bumping
into things, dropping things onto tender places, and cutting soft spots on
hidden sharp stuff. In the course of one day, I have nearly crippled
myself with little accidents, all as the festering toaster-oven-burn on my left
hand has finally healed to a nice, shiny, red spot. Besides, I just HAVE
to start cutting down the length of these little WOMP-Blog entries. Thanks
to that handy word counter site, I have learned that, from its inception in
November of 2003 through last month (January of 2005), I've posted 169,916
total words! The bulk of that came
in the last 6 months, so you all really deserve a break. That all having
been said, I think I know where my stack of
"Ideas From a Hat" are! It came to me just a bit ago, but, since it is
3:30am, and I believe that they are in a cluttered drawer mere feet from the
sleeping form of poor "Mrs. WOMP." If they are there, I will post them
here tomorrow, along with what little "directions" they require for use.
With that, I leave you so that I, too, may sleep mere feet from the cluttered
drawer, perchance to dream...
February 10 - Well, I've finished my
"creepy" piece that I have been working on for a couple of days. It turned
out pretty cool, but I think that I am going to also do a painted version, so I
won't be sending it out until Saturday. After that, when I am sure that
the guy who hired me has the piece in his hands, I will post the image somewhere
on the WOMP-Site for ya. Next up is a mural for our
local museum. ACK! It sounds daunting, but it will actually be more
of a suggestive backdrop than a featured mural. Even at that, it will be
HUGE, at eight feet tall by twenty feet long. The style is simplicity
itself. The entire wall will be painted white, and broken-down into four
foot by eight foot sections, On these I will then transfer my drawings,
which I have drawn on quadrille paper to scale. The painting will be
pretty easy, too, since there will only be three colors. The first step
will be to block-paint spot highlights of a golden yellow and a crimson
red...not all over the place, just here and there as they are needed. Over
all of this, I will then draw the linework of the piece with a thin black brush,
paying only a little attention to the spots of red and gold. When
finished, reassembled, and installed, this should give the piece a fun, lively
feel, without overpowering the displays which will be in front of it. The
artwork that I've planned for the piece is inspired by a newspaper article
reporting on a crazy, all-city parade from about this week of February in the
late 1800's (I'll look up the exact date for a future WOMP-Blog update), so I
will also punch up the graphics with apropos quotes (stuff like "By
mid-afternoon, the crowd numbered more than eight thousand" written in my
patented "olde timey" font). If all goes well, by Presidents Day I should
be delivering the final product to the museum. I plan to document the
process in photographs, so that, too, may someday find a home somewhere on the
WOMP-Site. Then, it's on to The
Red Desert of Oz! WOW!
For the first time in my life, I actually have back to back commissions lined up
for almost half a year! I feel almost like a real artist!
February 9 - I am a huge fan of the
Three Stooges. The problem is that I don't have a favorite. Well,
"problem" may be an overstatement, but I was recently asked by my wife A) "Who
was Shemp?" and B) "Why do people hate him?" My wife, by the way, is a
well adjusted adult woman, so she, of course, has never watched the
Stooges. I, however, am a maladjusted childish male, so I have actually
memorized the "Niagara Falls" bit. In my capacity as WOMP's
Official Three Stooges Expert, I explained who Shemp Howard
was, who the other Stooges were, and why Shemp is mistakenly perceived as the
poor-man's Curly, which leads to some of the animosity. She then asked me
"Well, then who was your favorite?" It occurred to me that I really didn't
have a favorite anymore. When I was young, it was no contest; Curly was
da bomb! He looked like a
cross-country trucker, sounded like a junior-high boy just hitting puberty, and
acted like a five year old kid. His physical comedy was spot-on perfect,
his every nuanced reaction feeding the complex on-screen character he'd
created. Like all real Stooges,
his comic timing was excellent, born as it was from the ashes of
Vaudeville. He also had a surprisingly easy charisma (which, off-screen,
led him to being quite the ladies' man) which made you actually sort of care for
him. Later, as I learned more about their lives and struggles, I began to
admire Moe. I started to "get" Moe's "boss" character, which was an
extremely pure extract from the history of American theatrical tradition.
He also impressed me with his commitment to the Stooges. On stage, his
commitment was the backbone of an act in which he preferred that the others got
the laughs, while he drove the bit as the "sane one." Behind the scenes,
he was driven to keep the act going in some form or another, year after year,
right through until his death in the 1970's. At times, his motivation
seemed callous, but, in a world of Hollywood sharks, he knew that the Three
Stooges act was all he had (although he did appear in an episode of Fantasy Island, but I can't remember what
his fantasy was). Just as his screen character mistreated his buddies, yet
loved and relied on them, Moe's off-stage relationships with the other Stooges
(two of whom were his brothers) were not perfect, but they were genuine...and
that "reads" in the Stooges shorts. Later, I began to appreciate Shemp,
whom I, too, once thought of as Curly's lesser. There is no denying that
Shemp's stint in the on-screen Stooges didn't have the refined subtlety of
Curly's masterful performances, but Shemp had many other great qualities.
First and foremost in my memory was his ability to be slapped...and I mean
SLAPPED! That man could take a punch! As his tenure in the Stooges
(which was a return to his roots, as he'd been part of the stage act, left for
the Joe Palooka serials, and returned during Curly's illness) approached the
1950's, he also had the ignominy of having to rehash Stooge bits from the Curly
era, because finding fresh ways to hit a grown man with a saw, pick-axe, or
steam iron was nearly impossible after twenty years. Shemp gamely limped
on, though, infusing his performances with sweetness and honesty. More
recently, I have gained a ton of respect for Larry. He added a lot to the
dynamic of the team, on a visual level, as a unique foil, and as an approachable
Stooge. His was the most "human" of the Stooge characters, and many people
identify with his personality. All Stooges were musically inclined, their
harmonious "Hello, Hello, Hello...Hello!" punctuating many on-screen
encounters. Larry was, by all accounts, also something of a musical
genius. He even looked the part! Larry's performance softened Moe's
hard edges, made Curly and Shemp seem like viable adults, and, with that often
imitated distinct voice, he provided balance to what would have otherwise been a
pretty flat act. As the Stooges gained new notoriety with television, a
succession of replacements followed, from the funny but completely miscast Joe
Besser, to the completely unfunny but pleasant "Curly" Joe DeRita, right down to
talented Stooge stock player Emil Sitka (who was going to replace Larry).
Each of them had good qualities (Joe Besser's "little boy" character is still
one of my favorites from TV's Golden Age), but, in my mind, the Three Stooges
are always going to be a combination of Moe, Larry, Curly, and Shemp.
There was even one Moe-Larry-Shemp short which featured a surprise guest cameo
from a recovering Curly! He appeared, with a full head of dark hair, as a
passenger on a train or bus that the Stooges were taking. I can't remember
the specifics of the bit, but I've always imagined that it was a special day for
the Stooges themselves. Here, for the first, and last, time, all three of
the Howard brothers, and Larry, shared the screen. I may not have a
favorite Stooge, but that is definitely (for sentimental reasons) my favorite
Three Stooges feature. If you, like my wife, are not yet a fan of the
Stooges, give them another chance, won't you? In their act is the echo of
the traditions of American popular theater (as rich and symbolic as kabuki), the
impish joys of being a child (the purity of play dismissing the grown-up
knowledge of the dangers of being poked in the eye or cracked over the skull
with a monkey wrench), and an intriguing reflection of what many male
relationships are really like at their core (similar to what is seen today in
the TV show, American Chopper). That, and Three
Stooges shorts are like little windows into the times during which they were
made. In these films, you can see the increasingly important role of
women, the changing styles of clothing and autos, the expanding influence of
American Pop Culture, and even national monuments, like Niagara Falls...
NIAGARA FALLS! Slowly I
turned, step by step...
February 8 - OK, so I have been
getting things done today. I guess I've put aside my procrastination for
another day (which, er, is still a sort of
procrastination...hmm). I've been drawing and plotting all day, spiked
with periods of intense sorrow and boisterous laughter. Let me
explain. In general, I am a fairly emotional guy. On an average day,
I laugh out loud when I watch The
Simpsons, and I cry at the mere hint
of the National Anthem, so it's not surprising that, as I get deeper and deeper
into a large art project, my emotions seem to also get deeper and deeper.
The pattern of my day has gone something like this; sketch some rough drafts,
laugh through a tape of Family
Guy reruns, research elements of a drawing, cry when the "Will Eisner
Tribute Issue" of Comics Buyer's Guide comes in the mail, laugh at the antics of
my cats, draw the bulk of the piece I researched, cry when PBS airs a short film
about children discussing September 11th, laugh as David Letterman delivers the
Top Ten List (I think I woke "Mrs. WOMP" when I did that), begin inking the
piece, cry when I hear that "A Hundred Years To Live" song from Five For
Fighting, continue inking, rub eyes that are tired from drawing and laughing and
crying, and post something in the ol' WOMP-Blog. That's pretty much how my
day has gone. Yes, I know that I am weird. There is just something
about working on a "major" piece (well, as "major" as anything I do ever is)
that makes me a bit more susceptible to the emotional content of the world
around me. In fact, that's part of what I like about creating art.
It puts me in much closer contact with the emotional side of my soul. The
piece I am working on right now has a lot of creepy elements, but the experience
of working on it has been anything but creepy. It's almost as if the
ghastly stuff that may stress or worry me is transmogrified into artwork,
leaving within me the strong influence of the remaining feelings of love and
caring. Now, before you get sick reading about all of this warm and lovey
stuff, let me just say that it's all cyclical, so I will probably be sour and
spiteful tomorrow, so things will balance out.
February 7 - I've learned to never
underestimate my ability to procrastinate. So far, at just before
midnight, I haven't gotten anything done today, in spite of having the day off
from the dorky "real" job. Well, I did make my annual appearance at the
local middle school to help with their school play (where I saw my shadow,
meaning five more weeks of procrastination), but that was just an hour of
sitting around thinking about set designs. I have so much on my plate
right now, that it almost seems unreal. How did I go from doing nothing to
being swamped with work? Oh, wait...the procrastinating thing.
That's right. I almost forgot. This whole message, by the way, is a
long-way-around way of saying that I am, yet again, not really posting anything
here tonight. For those who are scoring at home, that makes it EIGHT DAYS
in a row for non-entries (with a special "nonexistent version" on the
1st). Ah, the doldrums of February...
February 6 - OOPS! Right after
the Super Bowl ended, I fell asleep! POW! Just like someone had
given me secret knock-out gas. I have now awoken from my sudden
hibernation, and, even though I am still groggy, I shall post an entry here in
the ol' WOMP-Blog! Let's see...what can I talk about? Hmmm....
Well, I could mention that I'm working on plans for a bunch of commissions right
now, including a super-cool creepy
piece! It's been fun to work on something like that, which is quite
different from Monkey stuff. It is sort of like my "treehouse" that I was
talking about a few nights ago, in that, although it is artwork, it's just
different enough that it allows me to temporarily clear my mind of all of the
other upcoming projects. I know that I thought I might write something,
and I still might, but I think that my strange "Her Eyes Spoke of
Autumn" paragraph from last night may have removed that silly notion from
the table. That paragraphical piece, by the way, is an example of one of
my "Ideas From A Hat." I still haven't found my original stockpile of
these, but I remember this one in particular. Even as I wrote that title
on a little slip of paper over ten years ago, I thought that I might someday use
it. As I mentioned during the FALLFIRE contest, I love Autumn, so I
suppose that it's not surprising. I tell ya what; I am going to make a
dedicated effort to find those "Ideas From A Hat." When I do, I'll post
them all somewhere on the WOMP-Site so that you, I, or anyone else may use them
whenever "stuck" for an idea. Yes, I make that my goal for the week (along
with all of the other stuff that I'm supposed to be doing, of course). See
ya!
February 5 - Here's my
problem....or, should I say "Here's the problem with which I am wrestling right
now?" You see, I want to write something here tonight...I really do...but
I am dog-tired, AGAIN. That, and I have a pretty nasty burn on the top of
my left hand (I was a little careless when reaching into the toaster
oven). No matter how much I may want to type out some funny story or pithy
comment, it's all I can do instead just to stay awake long enough to put THIS
pathetic attempt together for you. It's not even that late (three in the
morning), but I just don't have it in me, I guess. I want to stumble my
way through some sort of story or whatever, but I don't have the strength.
So, in a compromise born of the states of desperation and semi-consciousness, I
have decided to post a quick, weird, spontaneous PARAGRAPH. It has nothing
to do with anything (it's just going to be fiction, I think). I'll call
the piece...
Her Eyes Spoke of Autumn
When was the last time that I looked deeply into her eyes?
Years ago, when we were first testing each other, laughing and listening and
learning, I would spend hours looking into those eyes. They really
sparkled, like poets claim, just like perfect blue-emerald pools of water.
Back then, I would fall into those eyes, headfirst, floating down into some sort
of deeply felt Autumn day that they invoked. I was pulled in by the soul
behind those eyes, drawn by a vortex of perpendicular sunlight and flecks
of orange, brown, and dark red. I was totally immersed, and it was all
that I ever wanted and more. Now...now I am less certain whether I can
look into her eyes without seeing that the glowing days of Autumn must, someday,
give way to cold, lifeless Winter.
Hmm. OK, that sounds like it's about me and my wife (and I
guess it has some basis there), but it's not. It's just something that
came from my groggy head, like a
snore! With a bit of Freudian fun, I bid you adieu. Happy
Super Bowl!
February 4 - Ah, what an auspicious
start to the month. Tonight, in yet another gracious acknowledgement of
the suffering of others, I am not posting a real entry tonight in the ol'
WOMP-Blog, so you won't have to read another 800 word ramble-fest. I had
an uncharacteristically busy morning and afternoon, after which I went in to the
darn "real" job. Normally, all of this would probably pass without notice,
except that, somehow, through all of the commotion, I actually forgot to
eat! Anything! By the time I got home, at about 9:30pm, I
was quite sick. So, now, with two aspirin, two turkey sandwiches, and two
cans of Diet Mt. Dew in my system, I plan to just lie down and SLEEP!
Maybe I will get up later and post something, but I doubt it. Oh, well.
February 3 - What up? It's
been a long day here, made longer by a stint at the dread "real" job for most of
the evening. I'm feeling pretty creative, in spite of the drudgery of the
day. I've got like a million projects in the works, from a mural for our
city museum, to over a dozen illustrations for this year's Oziana (and a possible cover).
So much is on my plate right now that it is starting to overwhelm me (just a
little). Back in the day, when I was the director of our community
theater, I would often feel the same way right before tackling another annual
full-scale musical play. Back then, though, I had a "simple"
solution. Just before embarking on a four month long, life-swallowing,
hair-pulling production, I built a treehouse! It
may sound crazy, but it was very therapeutic. There was something so
soul-satisfying about building a treehouse that it prepared me for the hard work
ahead. All of these treehouses could then be enjoyed by neighborhood kids
and such, so they often helped out with the construction too.
Unfortunately, due to the Winter weather, the lack of any more trees in the
neighborhood, and, frankly, the lack of any kids of the age to enjoy a treehouse
in the area, I can't do that this time. The idea, though, was to do
something completely different from what I was going to have to do next, so that
I sort of focused on something that cleared my mind. That being the point,
I am going to try to do some sort of "treehouse" project this weekend. I
don't know just what it will be, but I'm leaning toward a story. If that's
the case, I will be posting it here in the ol' WOMP-Blog. Whatever it is,
I will at least let you know what I did. Well, gotta go.
'Night!
February 2 - OOPS! I
absolutely forgot to post anything here in the ol' WOMP-Blog last night! I
was busy with art stuff, yes, but I usually remember to post at least
something. Oh, well. It's probably just as well. I may have
been sparing your eyes from being overly stressed. You see, I found a
sight which adds up words in a document or report or whatever for you, and,
according to it's little counter, I wrote eighteen-thousand and
eighteen words here in January!
YIKES! I knew that I was long-winded, but 18,018 words in one month?
Yowza! I'll try to keep it a bit more brief this month (in keeping with
the spirit of February's abbreviated 28 day length). Tonight, I just
wanted to let you know that I have been invited to be a guest at a new comic
book convention in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. The as-of-yet-unnamed con will
be on Saturday, March 19th, from 10:00am to 5:00pm. They are in the
process of creating a web-site for the show this week, so, as soon as that is up
and going, I will provide a link and more info. Also, I just want to say
"Hi" to Mr. Eric Gillitzer, Founder of The
International Order of Official Friends of WOMP, who
checked in with WOMP H.Q. today. All is well with him and his wife, and I
am sure that he would want me to say "Hello" on his behalf to all of the other
O.F.O.W. members in good
standing. Eric also sends this reminder; dues for 2005 O.F.O.W. memberships must be sent to
the WOMP Treasurer's Office no later than Friday, February 11th. There are
also still three "Lifetime Circle"
sponsor-level memberships available. Thank you. I now would like a
motion to recess until next month. Seconded? Opposed? Motion
carried, I call this meeting of Official Friends of
WOMP to a close.