#this is the first time I’ve ever drawn joe

[coatree]

So I’ve stopped doing Hermit A Day because exhaustion pulled at me and I wasn’t gonna do Joe initially

However, a golden opportunity landed in my lap, and I am a man who bends to the whims

And the TikTok https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMM3TdLtA/

[korasonata]

Is Cleo next to me? You know, I like to think that Cleo is always a little bit ahead of me. But it encourages me to catch up. ~Joe Hills

[cartoonistcoop]

ShortBox Comics Member Interview: Seosamh Dáire

Throughout the month of October, the Cartoonist Cooperative will be sharing interviews with members of the Co-op who have a new comic available at the ShortBox Comics Fair 2024! 

NOTE: The Cartoonist Cooperative is not affiliated, associated, authorized, endorsed by, or in any way formally connected with ShortBox.  

Today’s spotlight is Seosamh Dáire ( @saint_vagrant ) and their new comic for ShortBox, THE SOLAR SYSTEM.

We’d love it if you could introduce yourself and tell us about your background in comics.

Seosamh Dáire: Hey thanks for having me! I’m Seosamh Dáire, aka Joe (him/sé.) i have a BFA in Illustration, but more importantly I made a 200-page comic when I was 13 about fantasy angels, and after all that work, dropped it unceremoniously when I realised it wasn’t gay enough. So i’ve been filling the void ever since. Ironically, part of filling the void necessitates making comics about holes, like mine and my partner Anka’s ongoing sci-fi story SUPERPOSE. Recently I was part of the Ignatz-nominated HOME anthology, a collection of autobiographical comics about being of or in Ireland. My work is largely targeted toward mature readers, and last year I made the short 18+ comics TERESIAN for the Noah’s Ark anthology and OSHA VIOLATION (just for fun) and contributed illustrations to the BOOK OF SHADOWS anthologies.

I’ve been making little comics for most of my life, but now i make bigger comics. SUPERPOSE launched in 2016 so even if the clock started at that moment, I’ve been at it for a minute.

Tell us more about your new comic?

SD: Told in a little over 100 black and white pages, THE SOLAR SYSTEM is a trans/anti-military/sci-fi comic set in four timelines. There is Jack, equal parts soldier and experiment, and his mother and father, at odds with what they have made. He meets Nour, a displaced prodigy sniper, an intended footnote in the list of consequences of his parents’ work. With Jack as a vassal and Nour a resistance soldier, they find each other on opposite sides every time in a fight over the control of a superweapon, whose detonation puts the timelines into motion.

Tell us about your creative process; how did you develop this comic and what are the steps you took to bring it to the final stage?

SD: As with most of my work, I got smacked over the head with the frying pan of an idea and immediately went for it. There were some loose concepts floating around prior, but my acceptance to the fair gave me an excuse to solidify it. I wrote (plotted out, scripted) three different versions—I like each one tremendously. THE SOLAR SYSTEM is the third pass, and actually incorporates aspects of that process in the story itself by way of distinct but interconnected parts. the format also took a lot of concentration, as it’s all interwoven, and while not linear, i wanted each next thing to unfold naturally from the last.

The development of the story held all my focus, whereas art was less of a concern since I didn’t expect to draw in a different style, but rather make myself comfortable with a different level of finish, and confined myself to only a couple select tools to accomplish this. It’s the first comic I’ve made using Clip Studio, drawn straight into it without using anything other than a few modified brushes. Then I finished (text/dialogue, any extra painting or effects) in Photoshop.

I value the time I spend fleshing out each character regardless of how much they feature—how they move and how talk, their idiosyncrasies, are all so vivid to me and finding a way to make that as real to a reader as it is to me is part of the fun. I love challenging myself with “what if?” or “if x then y” and making connections that way, heightening the significance between elements, editing and cutting them together to build to each “aha, there it is” moment; I know it when I see it! Ultimately, even if the themes and ideas of the work aren’t identifiable at first, I care most about conveying emotion and that telling a story. Seeing a stranger cry and not knowing why can still stir you all the same. I do think the comic reveals more upon each return, though…

My comic did require a fair amount of research, which is something for which I enjoy any excuse to do. Starting off broadly helps me narrow with more intentionality, although it can get a bit overwhelming—there really is always more to know, and it takes me some time to find a solid place to settle. For reading, I revisited old and new writing/listening from Irish socialists as well as that in the Caucasus, and destabilisation by American interests, also referred to some surreal papers on combat tactics by American colonels which is unsettling stuff, but endlessly interesting.

I owe much inspiration to the IRA, PFLP, YPG/PKK, and Soviet partisans, among many others. 

Do you have any creative rituals or routines to prepare yourself to make comics?

SD: As much as I seek out new resources, I return to the things I’ve always loved. It reminds me what drives me—I’m very emotionally, creatively satisfied even just by select moments within a larger work, such that I get something new out of the experience every time even if it doesn’t directly apply to the project. I rewatched Into The West, The Manchurian Candidate (2004 version), the Escaflowne film, Spriggan, Solaris, I watched Heat… and then rewatched the ending of Heat. Obsession is my ritual, really.

Read the rest of the interview HERE! And dont forget to check out the Shortbox Comics Fair to support these lovely creators!!

[schweizercomics]

THE GREATCOATS by Sebastien de Castell

I drew these up as one of the (mostly literary) paper figures I do each month for Patreon.

Despite always being drawn to the trappings of fantasy, there are precious few fantasy books (or movies, etc) that have resonated with me. One very notable exception is the Greatcoats series, four novels that follow a trio of comrades from an effectively-dissolved band of dueling magistrates, who, in their heyday, had been charged with enforcing unpopular verdicts against politically powerful folks who had, until that point, been untouchable by the rule of law.

It’s kind of a thrust-the-Musketeers-into-a-medieval-setting thing, and there are swordfights and sucked-into-political-intrigues-even-though-you’re-ill-suited-towards-them a’plenty, for folks who like that sort of thing, and I very much do.

From the first read (I’ve now read them all thrice, along with a collection of short stories), these have become some of my very favorite books, and I could not recommend them more highly. They can, at times, be a hard read; the world in which the Greatcoats live is an unjust one, and whatever terrible things you can imagine people doing (torture, sexual assault, murder, animal cruelty, etc) can and probably are enacted in it, but what has, to me, set this series apart from some other “grim” fantasies is the balance between the knowledge that the world is an unfair, cruel, and terrible place, with the wholehearted belief that it shouldn’t, and doesn’t have to be. Idealism colors every action of the leads, and there’s something incredibly moving and powerful about characters who persevere against impossible odds towards fairness and justice despite encountering the very worst examples of their absence, never in ignorance or denial but out of pure stubbornness.

De Castell crafts a narrative with masterful control over how it’ll affect the reader; it’s melodrama in the best way, with huge operatic emotional beats. They never feel calculated – they’re all earnest, and they’re all earned. There are sections that make you weep, that make you laugh, and (I suspect this is the rarest, and most difficult to achieve) that make you want to cheer, stomp, salute. Moving speeches, incredible narrative payoffs, characters for whom you desperately root. Plus, of course, the suspense of peril and the best action sequences I’ve ever encountered in prose. De Castell’s first-person narration of fight scenes from the point of view of a strategist follows a pretty wonderful pattern of beginning the fight, edging the audience, and then turning to an aside that informs the context of the fight - a lesson learned long ago, an observation about the human condition, a technique frequently incorporated by duelists, an anecdote – and then return to the fight, the new context both heightening the peril and also providing a means by which the reader can fully appreciate the very clever way that the hero(s) win despite being outmatched. It’s a great internal “meanwhile, back at the ranch” and it gives each action encounter (and they are joyously plentiful) narrative weight.

Again, I can’t recommend the series more highly. It has some truly great characters – the leads, the supporting cast, the villains are wonderful and terrible, and the setting is rich and immersive. De Castell describes it as “swashbuckling fantasy,” and it swashbuckles its heart out.

You can get it in print, or in unabridged audiobook (Audible has it, and probably your library does, too), wonderfully narrated by Joe Jameson.

There are a number of other great characters, too – co-leads in their own right – but to draw them is to provide spoilers, so rather than do a whole cast, as I sometimes do, I’ve stuck to the three that you get from the first page.

Design (for process buffs)

There’s not too much visual description about the characters; Kest is described as of average height and build, with short hair, Brasti has hair long enough to tie back and a beard and is tall… and I think that’s it (at least so far as I’ve noticed, or remember).

There’s a tendency to make archers lean and wiry – it compliments the arrow imagery, and a tight, sinewy form seems a carryover of the bowstring to its user, but I wanted Falcio to be lean and triangular, and stoic Kest to be square, so it got me thinking that Brasti ought to have rounder features to offset and compliment the others. He’s a country boy, too, and where I’m from the troublemakers are often a little meatier, so it felt fitting, though it does suggest that he's physically imposing in a way the stories don’t push. But I kind of like that beefy, country swagger he’s got. He’s carrying two bows, as it’s a plot point that he has bows for different purposes: a fast one, and a powerful one.

The eponymous coats were tricky; they’re practically magic; serving as armor (via little bone plates sewn under the leather) and utility belt, with little pockets for whatever the story may require the characters need. I wanted a way to make them modular, so I figured on making a pretty sturdy chest piece that folds back to allow the coat to be open and unbuttoned, and a rolled epaulet that unrolls and can be used as a gorget to protect the neck during a duel (or from the cold).

I wanted each of the characters to be able to wear the coat differently, to reflect their personalities: Kest, always at the ready and doing things the “right” way, has his greatcoat fully rigged. Byronic Falcio needs to be able to dash about with tragic romanticism, so his coat needs to be a little more open – I probably should’ve had the chestpiece partially unflapped ala the Rocketeer, but I also wanted it to read clearly. And Brasti wears his because he has to, so he has all the trappings tied or buttoned back.

Last Thoughts

For artist and writer pals, I’d highly recommend listening to any of De Castell’s interviews on podcasts or on youtube; he’s generous with his process and has a lot of great thoughts about the act of writing.

[amberaddict]

Last year my friend Laragh started the first ever Amber Benson Appreciation Day. Today marks the day 21 years ago when the "Seeing Red" episode of Buffy The Vampire Slayer first aired in the USA. The finale of the episode had a hugely negative effect on the LGBTQIA+ community. It also started a trend where LGBTQIA+ characters were killed off from other popular TV series too. Laragh's idea was to reclaim the day and focus on the positive effect that Amber's character Tara Maclay had and continues to have for fans to this day. Amber has often spoken about the impact playing the role of Tara had on her life and she continues to be a huge supporter to the LGBTQIA+ community.

I was drawn to the character of Tara when she made her debut in season 4. Tara was shy and lacked confidence. I've never been shy in fact sometimes I can be quite loud but that hid the fact that I have a real lack of self-belief. Watching Tara become more comfortable and confident with herself as the seasons moved on gave me hope I could do the same. I thought Amber played her so well I wanted to see what other roles she had tackled. In doing so I became much more aware of issues faced by the LGBTQIA+ community and I hope I’ve become an ally to the community as a whole. As well as a friend to some of the truly amazing people I've met as a result of becoming an Amber Benson fan.

Last year I wrote a post about meeting Amber and how she has and continues to have such a positive impact on my life. I'm going to add the link to my original post below if you can, check it out.

https://www.tumblr.com/amberaddict/683724577769177088/my-friend-laragh-organised-amber-benson?source=share

Due to the covid pandemic and my disability, I thought I may not have another opportunity to meet Amber in person. Last October however Amber returned to the UK to attend a convention and I was lucky enough to be there. Amber was once again incredibly kind and generous with her time and gave me encouragement to continue to pursue my writing.

Amber is an amazing person and I know from talking to many other fans across the world who have met her they have nothing but praise for her. Click on the appreciation day hashtag and I'm sure you'll be able to read plenty of other similar stories.

It has been a pleasure to write this post and I hope in some small way I have done Amber justice.

Joe

[evansbby]

i just read wg!2 again and i sobbed ;(

i keep going back to it too

the bathroom scene? idk it just unlocks something in me i can’t express without tears

idt i’ve ever written this to you but every time i read it from the first to like joe the fortieth

i sob or cry or shed a tear

i just can’t help myself

awww bestie 🥹🥹🥹🥺🥺🥺

the bathroom scene is so cute yet kinda sad, i get why you’re drawn to it! like how could Ari be so mean to poor reader who was so naive at the time and really truly just wanted HIM and ONLY HIM. I bet Ari wishes he could take that back now lol.

[wontgodowninhistory]

ROBIN & LUCAS - NIFTY THINGS

Just a pointless drabble I wrote on another site and decided to post here:

“your sister kicked me out of her room. she said i was being too nosy.” robin said as she ducked her head into the room across the hall instead of leaving the house. she didn’t tell lucas the actual reason why she was ejected andthat itwas because she’d been getting into everything she possibly could. drawers, the closet, and finally the jewelry box. he would soon find out for himself. this might just be the first thing he and erica would ever agree on. “and i’m bored. like so bored.” the fact that she didn’t know him as well as she did some of the other kids didn’t stop her from walking right in uninvited. she'd hang out with him for a while. “steve is taking me home when he gets off work.” she continued to chatter as her blue eyes swept around the room taking in everything there was to see. “i didn’t want to walk home and i don’t have my bike.” she started to walk around touching everything as she did, running her fingers over furniture and even the wall paper as she walked.

“cool curtains. they are almost the same shade of blue as my trailer.” she pointed out. she didn’t even have curtains in her bedroom. instead, she’d tacked an old sheet up over the room's single window. the way that other people lived - people that weren’t dirt poor - fascinated her. like steve. the harrington home was like a five star hotel. it was sterile and felt more like one of those houses out of a magazine than a home. the sinclair home was more like the wheelers. comfortable. welcoming. it just felt lived in and it was obvious a family that loved one another resided in it. her own was just miserable chaos and she liked any opportunity she got to escape from it. “i mean the color of my trailer when it was newly painted. years and years and years ago.” her mouth was moving faster than her brain again. it always was. “now it’s more rusted than blue. the bottom mostly. the middle still has faded paint on it. the top is in surprisingly good shape. no leaky roof or anything.” robin’s hands were going as fast as her mouth as she gave more information than lucas could ever want even if he had asked.   

the curtains were forgotten as other things caught her eye. the bookshelf laden with titles robin had never seen before. of course she was drawn to it. knowledge. robin buckley loved knowledge and reading was like crack to her. she stepped closer and just started to run her fingers over the spines as she read the titles, her lips moving silently as she did. “d&d. i’ve never played.” after seeing a demogorgon in real time it had always seemed a little too close to home for her. still, it piqued her curiosity and she thought maybe it could be fun. “you should teach me to play. i think i’d be good at it.” she could make shit up on the fly and was an excellent storyteller - mostly stories to keep herself out of trouble when needed - and she excelled at drama. she picked up a series of little action figures on one of the shelves and turned them over in her hands as though she’d never seen anything quite so interesting. “these are nifty...they’re so detailed.” she held a g.i. joe up to her face so she could examine its tiny plastic features. “so much cooler than barbie dolls.” not that she’d had many of those herself growing up. “boys have better toys than girls. who would want a barbie dream house when they can could have these! oh man!” she gestured wildly.

[therecordchanger62279]

163 PLAYLISTS

My listening habits are changing. The real evolution began when we were forced to move to a small two-bedroom apartment from a three-bedroom, two-story house. Living in an apartment complex with neighbors above you, and on either side requires a bit of consideration, and discretion when it comes to noise. As a result, I’m finding myself listening to music more often on my computer, and my iPod. My records still get played on my turntable, of course, but my cassette deck, and CD player often go unused for weeks. The new CDs, or those I’m playing more often get downloaded to my iTunes program. And the cassettes usually are limited to accompanying me on walks when the weather is friendly, and whatever I’m in the mood for is only available to me in that format.

But the availability of a computer program allows me to listen to music in a new way because I’m able to organize it. No longer do I have to listen to my collection one album at a time. Now, in order to get the most out of my collection (especially with time always at a premium), I’ve taken to creating my own playlists, and I’m particular about what goes in them, and always trying to think outside of the box so that the playlist can give me a completely fresh listening experience. That’s why I don’t use the streaming services. I don’t want to pay them to make playlists that aren’t as interesting or comprehensive as those I can make for myself.

I’ve done a few posts here about specific playlists, but this time I thought I’d provide the entire list. I’ve given each playlist an appropriate name, with a brief explanation of what’s in it, and how many songs (in parentheses) make up that playlist. I won’t list every artist in every one of the mixed artist lists, but you’ll get the idea anyway. So, here, alphabetically, is the complete list as of March 2024. Playlists come and go, and nothing is immune to changes, and tweaks. That’s what makes this so much fun.

…and Friends (115) I wanted a playlist that brought together a group of musicians who often played with one another, and whose music was somewhat similar. The title, and the concept came from the Delaney & Bonnie & Friends On Tour album where they were playing with Eric Clapton. That group of musicians, together, and separately also played with Joe Cocker, and Leon Russell who are here, among others. Clapton played with them and Duane Allman which opened the playlist to The Allman Brothers. I added J.J. Cale as well. The Band was also included because they played with Clapton on his No Reason To Cry LP. And, of course, Delaney & Bonnie, and Derek & The Dominos appear along with Blind Faith. Bobby Whitlock of The Dominos, and Rick Danko of The Band also appear as solo artists. Anyway, you get the idea. And the music fits together beautifully.

Alive/Total Energy (136) The first of many label playlists. Label playlists are open to any artist on that particular label. This list features everyone from The Black Keys to Datura 4 to Buffalo Killers, and more. It helps if the label does a particular type of music, and, if not, that you restrict the playlist to music that fits together.

Alligator Blues (457) Another label list drawn from all of the anniversary releases (there are 7) by the Alligator label along with a few artist collections, and a series the label did called Crucial Blues. Every artist who ever recorded for the label is represented (except one I don’t much care for), and because of the label’s consistency over the past 50 years, is a perfect playlist for the contemporary Blues fan.

Allman Brothers Band (44) A collection of my favorite songs by the band along with some of the solo stuff members did as well. It could be much bigger, but since the band is represented on a few other playlists, I limited this one.

AM Gold (1,404) A massive collection of artists and songs spanning AM radio in the 60s and 70s.

AM Soul (553) Same concept as AM Gold, but this one is strictly Soul music from the same period.

America (80) Songs from 7 different albums by the band America.

Americana (310) A genre playlist bringing together what I consider to be American Roots Music. So anyone whose music fits that description is on the list. So there’s Rock, Blues, and Country from artists ranging from Los Lobos to Johnny Cash to X to Doug Sahm to Ry Cooder to The Byrds, and so on.

Asylum Records (432) Not strictly a record label collection – although many of the artists included were on the Asylum label. But the focus is, instead, on the West Coast singer-songwriter movement of the 70s with room for a few artists who might well have spent time or should be in an Asylum. So there’s Linda Ronstadt, Eagles (group and solo), Little Feat, Tom Waits, Van Dyke Parks, the Buckingham-Nicks Fleetwood Mac, Frank Zappa, and so on.

Bang Yer Head (778) Exactly what you’d imagine – 778 of my favorite Hard Rock/Heavy Metal songs.

Bangles (226) Every Bangles group and solo recording I own.

Bar None (84) A label collection that features, so far, four of the artists who record for the label.

Beach Boys (114) My favorite songs by the band, along with some solo work by Brian, and Dennis. The surf stuff is not represented. You’ll see why later. This list focuses on the period after they stopped making surf records (although it does include a few early non-surf favorites.

Beatles (88) My favorite Beatles songs spanning 1963-1970.

Beatles Early Years (28) Star-Club and early Decca recordings only.

Beatles Solo (173) My favorites from each of the band member's solo catalogs.

Beck, Jeff Beck (37) Not to be confused with that other Beck. Favorites spanning his career.

Beserkley (77) A label playlist featuring the usual suspects – Modern Lovers, Greg Kihn, Earthquake, The Rubinoos, and more.

Bird (27) My Charlie Parker playlist is simply a digital version of Warner Brothers 2 record set The Very Best of Bird issued in 1977. It was never available on CD, so I reconstructed it from a box set I have. Same running order, same songs. By far, my favorite Parker recordings.

Bizarre/Straight (86) A label list featuring Frank Zappa, early Alice Cooper, Captain Beefheart, and the G.T.O.’s.

Black Sabbath (54) All drawn from the post-Ozzy era. The Ozzy stuff is represented in the Bang Yer Head playlist.

Blood, Sweat & Tears (45) The band’s first five albums complete.

Blues (319) My favorite Blues records minus anything on the Alligator label which has its own playlist.

Bomp/Voxx (258) A label list with artists ranging from The Barracudas, to The Crawdaddys to Iggy Pop, The Last, Paul Collins, Romantics, Shoes, Flamin’ Groovies, Zeros, and more.

Bowie (104) All my favorites. I’ve tried to make it smaller, and I just can’t.

Boz Scaggs (28) Drawn from his career-spanning My Time anthology, and his Memphis blues album.

Brian Auger (24) From a career-spanning Best of.

British Blues Boom (337) A who’s who of the British Blues movement from the beginning.

Bruce Power Trios (67) The Jack Bruce trios with Cream, BBM, West, Bruce & Laing, and Robin Trower

Buddy & Co. (103) A mix of Buddy Holly, Del Shannon, Roy Orbison, Bobby Fuller Four, Tommy Roe, Bobby Vee, and Marshall Crenshaw. If you know these artists, you know they fit together beautifully.

Cactus (30) Drawn from a career-spanning anthology, and the reunion album V.

CD5’s (368) A playlist of every CD single I own – all in one place.

Chick Corea (58) Drawn from 6 or 7 of my favorite Corea albums.

Chick Corea Elektric Band (67) The band’s complete catalog of studio recordings.

Christmas (150) Best Christmas and Holiday songs from every genre.

Chuck Berry’s Golden Decade (76) Modeled after his three volumes of Golden Decade collections along with the Blues collection, some rarities, and his final album CHUCK.

Clash (35) My favorites with some interview snippets thrown in for variety.

Clive’s World (266) One of my more inspired playlist ideas. Designed to chronicle the period at Columbia Records when Clive Davis took over the label, and remade it as a contemporary giant in the music business by signing artists the likes of Laura Nyro, Sly & The Family Stone, Chicago, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Taj Mahal, Johnny Winter, Electric Flag, Janis Joplin, Santana, and many more. It all fits together beautifully, and recalls an era (1968-1974) when Columbia really was one of the great record labels. Based on Davis’s first autobiography, Clive.

Coltrane ’61 (50) Every Coltrane recording live and studio from the calendar year 1961.

Coltrane ’67 (25) Every Coltrane recording live and studio from his final calendar year 1967.

Columbia Classics (180) 15 complete album favorites on the Columbia label from a dozen different artists (Miles, Sly, Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel, Santana, and more.)

Coolest Songs (141) Features 8 volumes of the Wicked Cool label series The Coolest Songs in The World, along with a collection they did called Halloween a Go-Go. A real mixed bag of cool stuff.

Country (551) All my favorite Country songs in one place.

Creem (817) Based on the artists written about and reviewed over a 20 year span in Creem magazine. All were welcome provided the song in question was true to the magazine’s style and mission statement. This was a challenge, but I got it right. Listening to the playlist reflects my experience reading the magazine. And this is the kind of playlist no computer program or algorithm could ever provide for you.

Cruisin’ (105) The Cruisin’ series 1955-1963, and a Wolfman Jack CD titled Howlin’ On the Air. Basically, radio shows from the Golden Age of Rock n’ Roll.

Dance/Pop/Hip-Hop (311) A mix of contemporary radio fare from the late 70s into the current century. There’s less of this kind of thing in my collection than most genres because my interest in and tolerance for it has limits. But the best of what I heard is all here from Kylie Minogue, and The Spice Girls to Beyonce and Amerie, Madonna to Taylor Swift, etc. there’s even some hardcore Rap.

Deep Purple (81) The Blackmore classic era is represented in the Bang Yer Head file. This one focuses on the Steve Morse years, and I threw in Slaves and Masters with Blackmore, but with Joe Lynn Turner on vocals just for fun.

Disaster (110) Punk from the Disaster label drawn from four volumes of the Old Skars and Upstarts CD series.

Discreet (57) Label playlist that features Frank Zappa, Zappa with Captain Beefheart, and Ted Nugent & the Amboy Dukes. Odd collection, but, like all the others, somehow it works. It helps they all come from the same time period.

Donna Summer (30) About a decade’s worth of her best. I wasn’t into Disco, but I was into Donna.

Doors (40) Just my 40 favorite Doors songs on one list.

Doug Snyder & (17) Doug Snyder was a regular customer at a record shop I worked at many years ago. One day he handed me two CDs, and a cassette of his own music. He was such a quiet, retiring guy, that he’d never even mentioned to me before that he was a musician, and had made some records. It’s all experimental noise Rock (a genre I love), and so I used the two CDs, and found a free download online of the cassette, and put it all together. It plays for 2 ½ hours, and you can get lost in it. The CDs are Daily Dance and The Rules of Play credited to Doug Snyder and Bob Thompson. The cassette is Interference by a band Doug was in called Sick Dick & The Volkswagens. I wonder what he’d say if he knew he’d made my playlists collection.

Duffy (20) The two records by British chanteuse Duffy, a favorite of mine.

Dylan (55) Cherry-picked collection of my favorite Dylan songs.

ECM Radio (206) A collection of songs drawn from the Rarum series of CDs on the ECM label, along with a couple of label samplers. Virtually every Jazz artist in the label’s history is represented here.

ECM Touchstones (156) 50 of the label’s classic albums in one place.

ECM Touchstones II (167) 50 more of the label’s classic albums in one place.

Elmore James (73) The essential recordings from my favorite Blues artist of all-time.

Eric Clapton (56) My favorite Clapton stuff, but excludes his ’74-’77 years. For that go to….

Eric Clapton & His Band (55) All the recordings, live and studio from his ’74-’77 band. He’d kicked the heroin to become an alcoholic, but it seemed to lubricate his creativity. That was his best band.

Film Music (96) My favorite songs from my collection of film scores and soundtracks.

Fleetwood Mac (75) Group and solo favorites spanning the band’s entire career.

Folk (198) My favorite British and American Folk music from the 50s to the present day.

Garage Rock (1,024) Some of the greatest music of my lifetime made by kids not much older than me. Primitive, raw, energetic, and irresistible. Drawn from a variety of compilation series such as Nuggets, Back from The Grave, Pebbles, Teenage Shutdown, Psychedelic States and more.

George Jones (39) Favorites from Country music’s greatest voice. Tammy Wynette guest stars.

Georgie Fame (65) Primarily a download of a vinyl boxed set titled The Whole World’s Shaking. Includes a few extra tracks from my collection. Fame is one of the great voices in British Blues and Jazz.

Glenn Hughes (66) Hard Rock’s MVP award goes to this guy who has had a long solo and band career making music with some legendary names. Includes tracks from Trapeze, Deep Purple, Black Country Communion, Dead Daisies, and his solo career. Wall-to-wall great.

Gliiter & Glam (94) Platform shoes, capes, teased hair, makeup, and electric guitars fueled this 70s Rock movement. Bowie, T. Rex, Roxy Music, Sweet, Queen, Suzi Quatro, Slade, Mott The Hoople, and more.

Grand Funk Railroad (104) The people’s band live and studio best. I still listen to them.

Guess Who (32) Among Canada’s best exports. Hit after hit after hit.

Herbie Hancock (32) Drawn from his late 70s Jazz records with V.S.O.P., some 60s Blue Note favorites, and a one-off with Michael Brecker & Roy Hargrove.

Immediate Records (162) An overview of Andrew Oldham's Immediate label during the Swinging London period of the 1960s.

InsideOut (161) The best of the 90s European Progressive Rock label. Squire, Howe, Hackett, Flower Kings, Pallas, and more.

Jackie ’60-’67 (59) Eleven of the best of saxophonist Jackie McLean’s albums for Blue Note during the sixties. All of them gems.

Jazz (250) My favorite Jazz in the traditional mode.

Jazz Christmas (91) The best Christmas music is Jazz Christmas music.

Jazz Fusion (356) Miles, Weather Report, Return To Forever, Mahavishnu, Coryell, Herbie’s Headhunters, and more.

Jazz Is (671) The more commercial stuff drawn from the late 70s to the 90s, and beyond. The GRP artists, Bob James, David Sanborn, Candy Dulfer, Bobbi Humphrey, Crusaders, Chuck Mangione, the CTI stable of artists, Earl Klugh, Eric Gale, George Benson, Grover Washington, Jr., Joe Farrell, Joe Sample, John Klemmer, Rippingtons, Spyro Gyra….you get the idea. The stuff the Downbeat critics hated. No Kenny G, or other junk like that. Just the best musicians in the world cookin’, and groovin’. I built this from the ground up just a few years ago because I wasn’t buying it or listening to much of it back in the day. But it sure sounds great now.

Jefferson Starship (76) One of the most underrated bands of the 70s and 80s.

Jersey Shore (273) New York and New Jersey music – Billy Joel, Springsteen, Four Seasons, Rascals, Mink DeVille, Genya Ravan, Patti Smith, the Dolls, Ronnie Spector, Southside Johnny, and more.

Jimi Hendrix (55) All his best.

John Mayall (81) I have more than 40 Mayall titles in my collection. So I pared this down to his anthologies on the Deram, ABC, and Silvertone labels which covers about 40 years.

Joni Mitchell (26) Only the very best.

L.A. Witch (23) The catalog from the edgy all-girl band.

Led Zeppelin (86) The studio catalog – all of it.

Live! (72) A mix of favorite live albums. This is constantly changing.

Lorrie Morgan (47) Country music’s greatest female voice – to my ears anyway.

Michigan Rocks (523) Covers the cream of the Michigan Rock scene from Garage to Punk to  Metal to Glam to just plain ol’ Rock. Seger, Nugent, Ryder, Quatro, MC5, Stooges, Frost, SRC, Third Power, and all the rest. No stone left unturned.

Midnight Oil (86) The best from one of my all-time favorite bands.

Miles Davis 1957-1991 (59) The focus is on his 80s work with just a few tracks from the 50s, 60s and 70s. The rest is elsewhere.

Mod Revival (169) The best of the bands who formed in the wake of The Jam’s success in England. Mod style. Mod sound. Late 70s period.

Moondog Matinee (1,309) named after Alan Freed’s radio show, this is (I swear) every great record from the early days of Rock ‘n’ Roll. R&B, Doo Wop, Rockabilly, and that demon Rock ‘n’ Roll.

My Jukebox (1,000) My 1,000 favorite songs of all-time.

Nanci Griffith (209) Most of the catalog from the best artist of the past 45 years.

Neil Young + Friends (51) The absolutely essential Neil Young solo work and his stuff with CSNY, Buffalo Springfield, Stephen Stills, Crazy Horse, and The Stray Gators.

Nightclubbing (112) Live sets from bands of the New Wave, and Punk era.

No More Wars (63) A collection of anti-war songs.

Norman Whitfield (80) A collection of the best from Motown producer Norman Whitfield.

Norton Records (164) Some of the best from NY label Norton records.

NWOBHM (182) A generous sampling of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement of the late 70s, and early 80s.

Ono (67) The first four solo albums by Yoko Ono, and some rare singles.

Ornette Coleman (137) My favorite Coleman records beginning with his mid-60s Blue Notes, and continuing to his final recordings before his passing in 2015. Also includes tribute albums from Tim Berne, and Aki Takase & Silke Eberhard as well as five tracks from his funeral service by admirers, and fellow travelers.

Outlaws (117) Waylon & Willie, and a few others.

Ozzy Osbourne (107) All his best solo records in one place.

Paisley Underground (263) The best of one of California’s coolest musical movements. Bangles, Dream Syndicate, Three O’Clock, Green On Red, Game Theory, Long Ryders, Rain Parade, and many more. This took a lot of work. Much of this stuff had gone out of print. There really should be a box set. Are you listening Omnivore, or Rhino Records?

Patti Smith (48) All of her groundbreaking stuff in one place.

Paul Weller (34) The Jam are elsewhere. This is all Style Council, and solo work.

PJ Raw (117) The edgiest, and best of PJ Harvey’s amazing catalog.

PJ Stripped (92) Every track here comes from Harvey's demos series of albums.

Pop TV (100) The Monkees, Cowsills, Partridge Family, The Archies, and Josie & the Pussycats. A sugar overdose.

Post Modern (317) The best of 80s Modern Rock.

QSKY Radio (89) Soundtracks for Almost Famous, FM, and Dazed and Confused – all in one place, and all hailing from the same era.

R.E.M. (43) The cream of Athens, Georgia’s finest band.

Radio London (136) British Pop, and Rock from the Pirate Radio era in England.

Rainbow (67) Ritchie Blackmore’s other contribution to head banging.

Redbeard (1,544) FM radio in the 1970s named after its greatest DJ. Every great record is here – I swear on my stack of Circus back issues.

Reggae (153) A healthy sampling of Jamaica’s greatest export. And only 16 of the tracks are by Bob Marley & the Wailers.

Return To Forever (36) Live and studio very best.

Riot Grrrls (232) Begins with Joan Jett and The Runaways, and includes Bikini Kill, L7, Sleater-Kinney and many more.

Rolling Solo (153) What were the Stones up to when they weren’t rolling? Begin here.

Rolling Stones (136) The best studio tracks.

Rolling Stones Live! (64) Betcha can’t guess what’s in this one.

Ronnie Spector (91) Most of the Ronettes, and Ronnie solo recordings.

Rosanne Cash (40) Her very best as chosen by me.

Rush (34) Comprised of the ‘74’-80 Retrospective, Moving Pictures and Vapor Trails – my favorites.

San Francisco (289) The best music from one of America’s greatest cities. Dead, Airplane, Starship, Hot Tuna, CCR, Doobies, Groovies, Santana, Steve Miller, Youngbloods, Tower of Power and more.

Santana (98) The very cream of the band and solo albums.

Scorpions (47) These will indeed, Rock You Like a Hurricane.

Simon & Garfunkel (37) Just the duo’s best. The solo work is elsewhere.

Slash/Los Angeles (345) A killer collection of the best from Slash Records, Slash magazine, and the Los Angeles scene of the late 70s and early 80s.

Slayer (41) For my money, the last great Metal band.

Sleater-Kinney (40) A mix of live and studio stuff.

Softcult (19) Most of the catalog from this Bandcamp favorite.

Sonic Youth (38) Noise merchants live and in the studio.

Southbound (117) Songs by mostly Southern artists about living in, going to, or from the South. Great road music. From the bluegrass of Kentucky to the Voodoo of New Orleans to the Florida Keys. Just take 75 South.

Southern Rock (245) All the finest music from artists of the Southern United States.

Steely Dan (77) The entire catalog through Gaucho, amigo.

Stephen Stills (54) Best band and solo work, similar to the Neil Young playlist, but nothing repeated.

Steppenwolf (45) Like Grand Funk, a sentimental favorite, and a band I still listen to.

Surf & Drag (733) An entire playlist of surf and car songs. This is where The Beach Boys surf records are hiding.

Suzanne Vega (67) The best of her studio work.

Taylor Swift (42) Eleven early favorites, and the entire 31 track The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology.

Temptations (53) Motown’s finest.

The Mooney Suzuki (38) Garage Rock for the new century. Three studio records and one live. A wall of noisy Rock.

The Reivers (29) As Americana music goes, this is as good as it gets.

Todd Rundgren & Utopia (50) The absolute finest Pop Rock you’ll ever hear. Has both his solo work, and his work with Utopia.

Tom Petty (169) Live and studio masterpieces.

Top 100 (100) My 100 most played songs. I update it monthly.

Troubadours (403) Singer-songwriters, King, Taylor, Paul Simon, Souther, Stevens, Croce, Buffett, Denver, Mitchell, Collins, Nyro, Loggins & Messina, Carly Simon, Newman, Vega, Waits, and many, many more.

Trouser Press (715) Like the Creem playlist, this is based on the magazine that ran from 1974 to 1984, and covered both the British music scene, and the blossoming Punk and New Wave movements. I did a brilliant job with this one as well. It’s like having your own Time Machine.

Van Halen (66) Probably all anyone needs.

Van Morrison (119) All solo work, and all essential.

Velvet Underground (64) 31 Velvets tracks, and 33 more from Reed, Cale, and Nico solo.

Vinyl Masters (398) Complete albums from the golden age of vinyl records – all personal favorites.

Voices (393) The greatest voices in popular music from Sinatra to Streisand to Bennett to Celine Dion to The Carpenters, and more. Not Rock. Not Folk. Not Blues. All stuff your parents loved. All stuff that anyone with an ear for quality will recognize as worthwhile.

Weather Report (87) Most of their brilliant catalog in one place.

West Coast Jazz (242) You thought I forgot about the other coast, didn’t you? Never. All great Jazz music from the Pacific coast state. Essential. Drawn from two boxed sets, and book of the same name along with a variety of things from my collection.

Who (33) 16 of The Who’s best and 17 more from Townshend, Entwistle, and Daltrey solo.

Wilko (46) Not the band, but the late ex-Dr. Feelgood guitarist. Includes his work with the Feelgoods, Roger Daltrey, and some solo stuff. I miss him.

Willy DeVille (65) Includes the best Mink DeViIle, and solo work as well. So underrated. And still missed.

Winwood (36) Career overview featuring Traffic, Blind Faith, Spencer Davis, and Powerhouse along with some sterling solo work.

Woodstock (28) A hodgepodge of my favorite songs from “3 Days of Love and Peace.”

Yoko (50) No, you’re not seeing things. This is the other Yoko Ono playlist. This one picks up with the Double Fantasy sessions, and runs through her 1995 Rising album. I love Yoko’s work. No, seriously. Stop laughing. I’m not joking.

Yuja Wang (95) Everything I have to date from the greatest pianist I’ve ever heard.

That’s it. Check back for updates now, and again. I’m always making playlists because I have nothing better to do. I hope this list gave you some ideas of your own.

[bisluthq]

I think people also don't know or ignore how creative writing works. As someone who writes poetry as a way to get my feelings out, I'll be the first to tell you artists or creative people in general are all a bit crazy, a bit dramatic. Like we have big feelings and can be a bit dramatic about them. The feeling a song conveys doesn't have to be a super long drawn feeling ykim? Sometimes things aren't good in that moment and a song is a portrait of that moment that we need it to framed.

I wrote so many poems full on ugly crying and it makes you feel so much better after you get that feeling out. And after you get that out of you, you're able to think clearer and actually be like you know what maybe things aren't as bad as they seemed when I wrote this. You know what, I actually think if we do this or that this could be fixed.

Obviously I don't know their situation, but unlike swifties who think Taylor was held at gunpoint to make her stay more than a year absolutely unhappy, I think that whatever was going on she ended up by thinking they could still solve the situation. And for a while they probably did. If the problem was lack of attention or him being away from work, it seems like in 2022 they actually tried to spend more time together. He was just doing promo and not really being away for a long time.

And then for whatever reason things crashed again. Either because the og issues were just swept under the rug and not solved or something new came up

is it lack of understanding the creative process or a lack of life experience? I mean the former often strikes me as true with Swifties insisting all songs are play by plays and hyperrealistic and like almost form a storyline. They don’t lol even where they are truthful like I can all but guarantee when Taylor agreed to go out with lmfao Hiddles she wasn’t thinking he’s her getaway car - that’s how she came to think about it when it crashed and burned as fast as it did but like obviously that wasn’t her starting point?? Because she’s not insane?? But like that’s how she thought about it on reflection lol. Or taking songs like IWYW or Wildest Dreams or Stay Stay Stay or half of folkmore which she’s said are fantasies and/or very clearly are fantasies and plainly not believing her. That’s a lack of understanding the creative process.

a lot of how Swifties talk about her relationships - and especially this one with Joe - speaks to me to a lack of life experience (not meaning this negatively necessarily). My friend who set me up (in a roundabout way) with my bf is very regularly very miserable with her partner. In part because he doesn’t want to get married anymore. In part because he’s bad at communication. In part because they have different things that they enjoy tbh. In part because he makes decisions without talking to her. In part because he doesn’t get like set crew schedules and gets very annoyed with how her work life is structured. In part because he gets quite jealous idk. She tells me this stuff regularly but they stay together and they do have plenty of fun together - I’ve seen them having fun together with my own eyeballs and also she tells me tbh like they are clearly not happy every day but they’re also clearly not about to break up rn (my bf and I love both of them but we do think they will eventually) and idk guys lots of people are in similar situations? I’ve been in situations I stayed in because it didn’t suck every day? Every divorcing couple ever has stayed in stuff past the point of knowing it’s fucked? Like idk that’s part of life???? People don’t break up one morning just because like they realized yesterday they felt shit because there’s a good chance that morning you make coffee together and have a laugh about something and you just… stay. And you hope tomorrow is good again. And then when it isn’t and maybe it sucks then eh you hope for tomorrow all over again.

[dijanadraws]

2023 review

Hi beans! I bring you an art dump of all my art made in 2023 because I keep forgetting this website exists. (It's c/pd from my Patreon, that's how bad I am.)

First up is a book cover I made for my sister (Daina Rustin - Demon Hunter, not published), that I actually started a year or two ago, but had the last push/rework in January and called it finished. I’m also adding the sword concepts I made for it, even though they were technically done in 2022, as I haven’t shared them before.

In February, I did some figure and hand studies with some friends on the NFC discord, and thumbnailed a bunch of locations and ideas for Sky Across illustrations. March was the beginning of my character concept art project for the main character of Sky Across - Aurelia.

Started with figure drawings, then outfit variations and explorations for different uses and settings. After that it was colour variations, and the last one is a finished character illustration. I also spent some time doing general research and working on worldbuilding, writing and designing certain elements that will be important for the story later on :>

At the beginning of June, I started working on a “props” section for my portfolio. I made it so far that I made a whole 3D/blender scene with them, and then…. I wasn’t excited about painting them. I kept pushing it around, sort of like pushing food around your plate when you have no appetite. After some time staring at that task in my calendar, I decided I would be better off doing something that ✨ sparked joy ✨ instead. So, I painted a new Witcher fanart piece.  It was done in anticipation of the third season of the show on Netflix…. That I still haven’t finished. Oops.

July and August were a big dud for me, art-wise. I was going through a rough period and I was busy with real-life issues.

September was a big month for me as that was when my ADHD diagnosis was approved and I finally got medicated. I think I did more things (in general) in that first week than I did in the entire July+August. I finally saw the bottom of my dirty laundry basket after 7 years.

Art wise, I did another bunch of thumbs for my Sky Across illustration, I set up the references I needed in Daz3D and Blender, and I got an offer to work on an exciting freelance project so I jumped on the research and thumbnails for that as well. The project is still in progress, and I'm looking forward to sharing it next year!

September was also when I drew Hopper, Nickie’s cat, in pencils. I used to do a lot of traditional art in the past so I didn’t think it would be complicated, despite not having drawn a realistic cat in over a decade…. I always forget how humbling traditional work is. Nickie visited my hometown and I travelled back home to meet her and see my family <3

I got a cold as soon as I returned and that slowed down my zoomies for a few weeks, some family/personal issues happened, and I had to start branching out before I was ready to - which is how Patreon and Twitch came to be. The rest of September and October were spent on YouTube researching and developing “passive” income ideas.

I won’t be talking about Oct/Nov pieces as I’ve already done that in the previous few posts. In short, art zoomies picked back up in October, I managed to knock out some presents for friends and some fanart pieces, only to be absent for the majority of November again because I had/was recovering from Covid. (I’m still coughing 💀)

Over the course of the year, I did some animal drawings as presents for friends - Joe’s wonderful sassy corgi Dennis that I'm plotting to kidnap (at least for a day, if I ever make it to the UK), Joel’s cat Kissa that looks like someone spilled ink all over, Isla’s cat Skye that has seen all of the horrors of the universe, and I’m cooking something up with my own cat - Azriel.

I started working on another illustration for Sky Across featuring the same character I concepted at the beginning of the year, I'm streaming the process on Twitch when I can, and I started a little banner illustration for socials that I noodle on from time to time.

There were a few bits and bobs that I don’t feel are worth mentioning, and some Blender practice things that aren’t really worth sharing but were great practice.

All in all, this year was mostly marked by a million doctors’ exams, a big focus on exercise/physical therapy, dealing with ~feelings~ about medical issues, and general financial uncertainty. But also more art than I made in a long while, so swings and roundabouts!

I'm really proud that I've managed to handle and organise so many health-related things, and I'm getting better at judging how much I can do and schedule for myself, recognizing when I need to take time off and when I can afford to push things. I hope to do more original illustrations and concepts next year, and I’m adding traditional art to my calendar for next year as I’ve been itching to experiment more. I’m very grateful to my family and friends that held me up, I wouldn’t have been able to manage without them <3

Hope you have a successful 2024 and may all your dreams come true!

Until next time,

xo

PS: INPRNT is running an end of year sale, and you can get my art for an extra 20% off with the code: OQKQS6DJ

[dustedmagazine]

Listed: Violin Sect

Photo credit: Steve Jinks

Formed in 1980 and disbanded in 1981, the obscure Welsh post-punk band Violin Sect left behind just one seven-inch, “Highdays and Holidays/Rivals,” documenting their brief existence. In fact, they’ve flown so low on the radar since then that they were even overlooked for the Messthetics compilations, the CD series that brought the sounds of the many forgotten and amusingly-named UK DIY bands of their time and ilk to a (relatively) wider audience. This started to change in 2019, however, when Sect bassist Steve Walker posted a couple of previously unreleased songs that he’d dug up to Soundcloud, where Minimum Stacks label head Joe Piccirillo heard them as his label was just getting off the ground. Fast forward to 2023 and we have the Vile Insect 12-inch, featuring all four songs from the band’s short life transferred from the original ¼" tapes. The result, to Andrew Forrell of Dusted’s ears, is a mix of “dubby rhythms, scratchy post-punk guitar, whimsy and skepticism,” able to stand with Scritti Politti’s “Skank Bloc Bologna” and Swell Maps “Read About Seymour.” And thanks to this release, it’s finally in a position to reach the audience it deserves.

Although Walker’s bandmates — Steve Jinks (guitar), Phil Rimmell (drums) and Hywel Pontin (percussion and backing vocals) — were unavailable to take part, Walker has assembled a list of some of his favorite music, art and literature from his 67 years on earth for Dusted. “A snapshot within a snapshot,” if you will.

The Raincoats

I was lucky enough to catch a London gig by the Raincoats in 1979 around the time they released their first single. This year Gina Birch (bass/vocals), also 67, has released her first solo album, I Play My Bass Loud, and it’s been worth the wait. Here’s an early one from the first Raincoats LP, though.

Mica Levi — “Lips”

I got the same sort of excitement when I first heard Mica Levi, together with their bandmates in Micachu and the Shapes. Their work has continued to grow and encompasses other genres such as film soundtracks (e.g., Jackie).

Sufjan Stevens — “Video Game”

I first became aware of Sufjan Stevens with the release of Illinois and caught him at the end of his UK tour promoting it at King’s College London with a pared-down (although still with those wondrous wings) extra gig. In later years he was in Bristol on the Carrie & Lowell tour. Sublime. Here’s a later track with fabulous dancing.

Saul Leiter — In No Great Hurry: 13 Lessons in Life

I’ve spent a lifetime as a specialist nurse supporting individuals with intellectual disabilities to maintain and develop their independence together with practicing as a part time psychotherapist for the general public, within the UK’s National Health Service. During this time, I’ve drawn, painted, made music but mainly taken photos (since I was a kid with a darkroom). Maybe there’ll be an exhibition of my own one day but, like Saul Leiter, I’m used to “postponing things and seeing no reason to be in a rush.” For me, his exhibitions and photobooks have a magical quality that validate and inspire all at the same time.

Ivor Cutler

Ivor Cutler always had my heart but here’s an epic that didn’t feature on his own albums.

Angeline Morrison — The Sorrow Songs: Folk Songs of Black British Experience

In 2022 Angeline Morrison released an astonishing album… I’m afraid that I can’t stop myself recommending it to people! If you get a chance…

Paul Wright — Arcadia

Arcadia is a short film that explores Britain’s relationship with the earth, its secret pasts, hidden histories and collective amnesia using old film and TV footage in an exhilarating fashion.

Wet Leg — “Chaise Longue,” live at the BRIT Awards, 2023

A performance from the here and now, incorporating the past with the present in a truly WTF moment at the Brits!

Gretchen Gerzina — Black England

Books… so many books! So, here’s what I’m currently reading.

Anthony Gormley — Another Place

Finally… if ever in Liverpool, visit Crosby Beach and experience Antony Gormley’s sculpture. It consists of 100 cast iron figures facing towards the sea, (gradually becoming encrusted with barnacles, etc.) all modeled on Gormley’s own naked body.

[dankusner]

Allred says his focus is on beating Cruz

Dallas Democrat won’t be drawn into debate on president’s fitness

WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, D-Dallas, is steering clear of his party’s internal debate over whether to replace President Joe Biden at the top of the ticket.

Last month’s poor debate performance rattled some Democrats’ faith in the president’s ability to win a second term.

In an interview with The Dallas Morning News , Allred declined to say whether Biden should remain the nominee, saying it’s the president’s job to show he’s up to the task of winning the election.

“Like many Texans, and I’ve heard from a lot of them, I was deeply disappointed by what I saw in the debate,” Allred said Thursday. “I know that these conversations about next steps are happening, but I’ve not been a part of them.”

Allred demurred when asked whether Biden is fit to serve as president now and for another four years.

“It’s up to him to prove that,” Allred said.

“It always has been. I think that’s a day-to-day, week-to-week, month-to-month process.”

Allred repeatedly stressed that he is focused on his own race challenging U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, which he said should be viewed separately from the presidential race.

That Senate contest is expected to be an ultra-expensive, high-stakes showdown, which is why Allred’s handling of Biden’s stumbles is being closely watched.

Allred said the state cannot afford six more years of Cruz.

Cruz said Thursday that Democrats are in “chaos and panic,” which should help Republicans in races such as his.

He has been critical of Biden’s fitness for office and predicted Democrats will likely replace him as the nominee.

He has said Allred is out of step with Texas voters and sought to tie him to Biden’s policies.

Members of Congress typically qualify as automatic delegates to the Democratic National Convention, sometimes called “super delegates,” although the party moved years ago to limit their power. Allred said Thursday that he had not decided whether to attend the convention.

Questions

Many Republicans are outspoken in questioning Biden’s fitness since the debate.

U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Austin, introduced a resolution urging Vice President Kamala Harris to convene the Cabinet, declare Biden unfit for office and assume his authority under the 25th Amendment.

Biden advisers met Thursday afternoon with Democratic senators.

Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, had little to say about the meeting to reporters afterward but expressed confidence in his party’s candidates.

Allred said repeatedly he was focused on what’s important to Texans and didn’t want to get into offering political analysis of Biden’s situation.

He highlighted the podcast Cruz hosts several times a week in which the senator often discusses political news of the day.

Divide deepens

A small but growing number of elected Democrats have publicly broken with the president over whether he should allow someone else to take his place on the ticket.

U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Austin was the first Democrat in Congress to urge Biden to step aside.

He said Thursday the situation is not resolved and won’t be for at least a few days.

“I’m hopeful we will continue to see more people out there, and that the president will listen to the numbers that are coming out and the comments that are coming out and step aside,” Doggett said.

“I think my call for him to let somebody else carry our banner in the fall is more urgent than ever.”

Some Texas Democrats have stood by Biden, including U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Dallas.

She has said repeatedly that she’s “Riding with Biden” and questioned the wisdom of calling for him to move aside. Biden backers

In a Thursday post on X, Crockett said Democrats had just wrapped up a bad week of backstabbing and leaking to the media while failing to focus their fire on the Republican agenda for 2025.

“I’ve been in the streets for the Biden/Harris Campaign, not on the sidelines, complaining … You can’t ‘will’ a win, you have to WORK for it!” she posted.

U.S. Rep. Al Green of Houston offered full-throated encouragement of the president on Thursday.

“I say without hesitation, reservation or equivocation: I’m supporting Biden. Stay in the race,” Green said, adding with sarcasm: “The polls are always accurate. That’s why Hillary Clinton is president.”

[daydreamerdrew]

Comics read this past week:

Marvel Comics:

The Incredible Hulk (1968) #256-257

Within the main The Incredible Hulk book I went from November 1980 to December 1980, according to the Marvel Wiki. These issues were both written by Bill Mantlo and drawn by Sal Buscema.

In issue #256 congress decides to defund Gamma Base, even though they don’t dispute that the Hulk is a menace, because too much money has been spent with no results in either capturing or curing the Hulk. Colonel Talbot’s mindset during this, however, is that “these people do not believe- as he does- that the Hulk must be destroyed.” Rick Jones’ reaction is to wonder, “Does this mean they’re gonna stop hunting the Hulk?”

In issue #257, as Gamma Base is being dismantled, Colonel Talbot goes rogue with a giant robot called the war-wagon, the secret construction of which is apparently the real reason why he couldn’t account for all of Gamma Base’s funds, to try and kill the Hulk. Also, at the end of the issue Rick Jones goes to Avengers Mansion to ask the Avengers to help him find the Hulk with the motivation that, “I owed him my life- swore I’d never leave him! But I did, after he left the Avengers and became more savage than ever! That was my excuse, wasn’t it?”

Black Widow (1999) #1-3

These issues were published across April 1999 to June 1999, according to the Marvel Wiki. All were written by Devin Grayson and drawn by J. G. Jones.

I was interested in getting into Black Widow comics and this looked like a good place to start because it was her very first solo starring series even though she first appeared back in the 60s. I’ve actually already read her very first appearances because she started out as an Iron Man villain and I believe after that she primarily appeared in Avengers and Daredevil comics but I haven’t been interested in reading Avengers or Daredevil comics.

This book was apparently where the existence of the Red Room was first established, though the particulars of it weren’t gotten into in much depth. This is also where Natasha meets the character Yelena Belova for the first time. Yelena tracks down Natasha while she’s on a mission and tells her that she has surpassed Natasha’s grades in the Red Room and as such is now the Black Widow. There’s fighting, there’s evading. Natasha gives Yelena a speech about how she doesn’t want to be her, shouldn’t want “to play pawn to any one of a dozen governments that will shoot you in the back just for becoming the dispassionate creature they require,” about the isolation and friends killed and birthdays ignored, and then is seemingly shot in the back and killed by S.H.I.EL.D. agents. Yelena wishes Natasha a happy birthday (she’d known about it from going through Natasha’s mail) then callously kicks her body into a lake and tries to resume the mission Natasha had been on, though to the ultimate end of supporting Russia’s interests instead of the United States’. Yelena gets captured but is believed to be the real Black Widow and so makes things easier for Natasha because she’s not expected. Natasha then reveals to Yelena that she faked her own assassination for Yelena’s benefit, that, “I knew that your ambition would allow you to believe that you had survived me, and that you were meant to continue on in my place.” And she gives her the warning: “Do not bring your passion to work, Yelena. It is only a detriment.” But Natasha also says, “You will not kill me today. […] Because you look forward to coming after me again. The game is your passion. And that is what makes you unique.” And she ends the story on the note that, “A spy is very difficult to stop- once she has found what makes her unique.”

Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes (2005) #6-8

These issues were published across January 2005 to February 2005, according to the Marvel Wiki. All were written by Joe Casey and drawn by Scott Kolins.

For the first 5 issues of this series I commented on how it did a good job of filling in unseen moments inbetween the scenes of early issues of The Avengers (1963) without resorting to rewriting events and at the same time managing to carry its own strong narrative, which I liked, and also that I thought it would likely be a bit difficult to follow if you hadn’t read those early issues because this book doesn’t take the time to explain everything that happened in them, which I thought was the correct approach. These issues did do a bit more of depicting and so rewriting of events from early issues, but I think that that was for the best at this point as these issues dealt with the transition to a new team line-up from the original one and the way that that happened in the early issues is that Captain America and Thor happened to be away while the Wasp, Ant-Man, and Iron Man decided that they wanted a vacation and found replacement members for themself, and then Thor continued to be away and Captain America came back just as it was time to hand over the reigns and so became the new team leader as the most experienced member. This is portrayed a bit more seriously here where Janet and Hank’s decision to leave is directly connected to Janet getting shot and nearly dying and Tony doesn’t decide to leave the team until Cap comes back.

I was particularly intrigued by the portrayal of how the failure of trying to have the Hulk as a member affected Tony. I said before that this book was a lot more successful as convincing me of how important the Avengers were to Tony than the issues of The Avengers that I’ve read.

In issue #6, when Tony is talking about things that have gone wrong and are making him have less faith that he can make this team work, he says, “Not to mention… Everything that happened with the Hulk. I still have trouble accepting that I- that we- couldn’t rein him in. I’ve always prided myself on being so capable. Snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. Turning a negative into a positive. Story of my life… I guess I’m just not used to failure.”

In issue #7, when Clint was trying to convince the Avengers to let him join the team, he said, “Hey, you gave the Hulk a chance-!” As Iron Man, the Wasp, and Ant-Man are discussing the Avengers’ future, both whether or not to allow Hawkeye to join and to extend invitations to other people in the superhero community, Tony says, “Every other hero- and would-be hero out there- we’re setting an example for the rest of them to follow. Why else would someone like Hawkeye seek us out…?” When Ant-Man questions the idea of turning the Avengers into a “criminal rehabilitation program,” Tony says, “I doubt I’d put it like that in the press release… but why not? After all, wouldn’t that fall under the purview of helping people who’re unable to help themselves…?”

In issue #8, when Steve seemed trepidatious about the fact that the three new members he would be leading were all formerly criminals, Tony explains, “I’m afraid I need to take some responsibility there… I look back at the situation with the Hulk as my own… personal failure. I should’ve managed that one better. With these new people on board, I… suppose I saw another chance at redemption. Theirs and mine.”

This is all building off of how in The Avengers #16, as the torch is being passed to the new team line-up, Tony had said, “When the Avengers first formed, the Hulk was a member, also! I hope that you can find him, some day- and convince him to be an ally again! Despite all your skills, awesome strength such as his could be your greatest asset! The last word of advice I can leave with you is- find the Hulk!” Though in this series the idea of trying to recruit the Hulk again isn’t brought up. And, of course, that new team line-up ended up determining that they were strong enough on their own and didn’t need the Hulk.

Iron Man (1968) #77-81

With this batch of Iron Man issues I went from May 1975 to September 1975, according to the Marvel Wiki. Issues #77 and #79-81 were written by Mike Friedrich, with Steve Englehart assisting with the plot of issue #80, and issue #78 was written by Bill Mantlo. Issue #77 was penciled by Arvell Jones, issues #78-79 by George Tuska, and issues #80-81 were penciled by Chic Stone.

In issue #77 the Mad Thinker, who had previously taken control of Iron Man, says, “You display the psychological characteristics of one who values his self-control- his free will- quite highly… To such a person, being subjected to another’s will, such as my own, would infuriate you more than anything imaginable.”

At one point Iron Man tells the Mad Thinker, “Your ray goes up against armor designed by Tony Stark- whose inventive genius far exceeds your own!” Later he says, “You’ll have to do better than petty treachery to knock me out of the action, buddy!” In this same panel Tony inwardly thinks, “That’s it, Tony- hide the fact that you’re tired- throw the big macho at him- maybe it’ll scare him!” And the tough guy act actually works as a tactic.

In issue #79 after Iron Man saves a couple the narration describes how, “Their gratefulness in the midst of their hardship is almost embarrassing… Shellhead’s always been a guy who sees a job and does it… More emotional involvement comes hard- but thankfully he sees another job- and acts upon it.”

In issues #80-81 Tony is in another world which slowly drives him mad because of the cosmic imbalance caused by him not being supposed to be there. This is represented by narration panels that are prefaced with “Madstark” that say things like “Hescrazycrazy! Idonttrusthim! Idonttrusthim!” and “Comingtogetme! Allaround! Allaround!”

In issue #81 the narration states, “Shellhead has been called power personified! There is the look of cool steel in his eyes- and perhaps in his veins, as well!”

Black Widow (2001) #1-3

These issues were published across November 2000 to March 2001, according to the Marvel Wiki. All were written by Devin Grayson and Greg Rucka and painted by Scott Hampton.

The first Black Widow miniseries was alright, but I really enjoyed this one. The painted artwork was great. The inciting incident was Natasha having Yelena kidnapped and put through plastic surgery to make her look like Natasha while Natasha underwent plastic surgery to make herself look like Yelena. Yelena wakes up in Natasha’s home confused as to where she is and just as she’s shocked by her reflection in a mirror, Daredevil comes in and kisses her and implies that they had sex the night before, which in particular freaks Yelena out even more, but she’s able to recover and goes along with it and pretends to be Natasha. Inwardly Yelena is insistent that she is Yelena Belova but she’s unable to contact her own superiors and is given a mission by Natasha’s to kill Yelena Belova so she goes to the place that they told her Yelena would be. Natasha doesn’t give Yelena a chance to speak and instead quickly forces a fight and tells her, “You’re obsessed with me. You want to be me. You want to kill me. I told you before! You���re too old and too slow to ever kill me!” As Yelena fights back she says, in response to Natasha-pretending-to-be-Yelena asking her who she thinks she is, “I’m the Black Widow. My… name… is… Natasha Romanov.”

Issue #2 has Yelena on the run from S.H.I.E.L.D. who purportedly want to arrest her for murdering Yelena, though in reality they’re all in on this and are working with the real Natasha. Natasha explains that, “She thinks she’s Natasha Romanov. She thinks she killed Yelena Belova. But she is Yelena Belova. She’s coming undone.” Everywhere she goes Yelena is hounded and cannot catch a break and the issue ends with her curled up hiding in a dumpster. Early on in issue #3 Daredevil, who was never comfortable with this mission but is still cooperating with it, approaches Yelena in the dumpster. Yelena initially fights against him and tells him, as he attempts to reassure her, “I’m not her, not Romanoff- […] Not Natasha, never loved you- never kissed… you.” When he manages to tells her that he knows she asks him who she is and when he tells her Yelena Belova she curls up against him while he hugs her and says, “Yelena… I’m… Yelena Belova… The Black Widow.”

Daredevil brings Yelena to where Natasha has been doing her own espionage work while pretending to be Yelena. Natasha is able to get Yelena’s employee to say that Yelena is naive, that he was using her, and that he was planning to kill her in the end while the real Yelena is watching. Yelena and Natasha then take him and his men down together, but once he’s defeated Yelena turns on Natasha. When Natasha fights back against Yelena and says enough, Yelena says, “Is what you did to me enough? Kidnapping me? Drugging me? Framing me? You stole… You stole me from me, Natasha…” Natasha tells Yelena that she had wanted to save her and that, “You are naive and that will get you killed. You think what I did was cruel, but it is nothing compared with with the savagery of our business.” Yelena pushes back against this, asking, “You call stealing my soul nothing?” And then, “I understand you think you are justified in your cruelties. But you are right. I do not understand the kind of monster who would rape me in this way.” Natasha acknowledges that there were other ways of taking down Yelena’s employer, but says, “I wanted you to understand, finally, what it meant to be a spy. We are not Daredevil or the others, Yelena. We are not heroes. We are tools. And tools get used.” Yelena has the opportunity to shoot to kill Natasha but chooses against it and accepts just getting her face back, though she is still incredibly angry with Natasha. The ending note regarding Yelena is that, “Maybe now she knows it’s not a game. Maybe she’s grown up.”

NYX (2003) #1-7

These issues were published across October 2003 to September 2005, according to the Marvel Wiki. All were written by Joe Quesada. Issues #1-4 were drawn by Joshua Middleton, with some assistance from Jean-François Beaulieu. Issues #5-7 were penciled by Robert Teranishi and inked by Mark Nelson and Chris Sotomayor.

I had a Laura Kinney phase as a teenager but I never read this series, which is where she first appeared in comics, because the fact that she was a child prostitute in it put me off. I picked it up now because I was in the mood for something a bit sensationalized and I did actually like the overall book, even though Laura’s role in it wasn’t particularly notable. I never got very deep into X-Men comics because they seemed unappealingly complicated, but I do find these stories about mutants on their periphery/outside of the superhero world interesting.

[theliterateape]

Trump Announces Run for Warden

by Joe Janes

 This is the transcript of Donald J. Trump’s announcement last night

from a federal penitentiary in Kansas.

 Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for coming out to the yard, today. Look at this turnout. Biggest turn out ever in the yard. My fellow inmates, Leavenworth’s comeback starts right now. We all know Leavenworth used to be a great and glorious penitentiary. People were proud to wear their orange jumpsuits. Now we are a prison in decline, full of criminals. That’s why I am announcing my candidacy to be your new warden. Sleepy Don Hudson has run this place into the ground. It’s time to put us back on track. I can do this job all by myself, but I guess I have to choose a running mate. I choose my cellmate, Joey Pickles. Joey’s a good man. Very loyal. Doing time because he refused to rat out his boss. I could have used more men like Joey when I was on the outside.

Elect me warden and I will fix all the problems we have. There are a lot of Mexicans coming in and they are taking our jobs in the laundry room, in the canteen, along the highway. They are not sending us their best people. My enemies on the left say I’m racist. I’m not racist. I don’t care about color. I care about wealth. Skin color is a far second. If you’re a smart sophisticated businessman, like me, you should be first in line in the cafeteria and allowed to get as many seconds as you want. Why don’t we have an omelet station? You say you want to rehabilitate people, give them freedom over what meat and cheese they want in their eggs like our founding fathers had in their prisons.

We have a gym, which some of you use. Look at Darryl, my black friend with the biceps, there. We need more. Elect me warden, and I’ll take that field where they make us plant vegetables and turn it into a golf course. The most beautiful golf course you’ve ever seen. There’s enough room for two or three holes. I’ve already drawn up some designs with toilet paper and a dull pencil.

Of course, all my haters are going to tell you that a prisoner can’t run for warden. Don’t believe them. It’s all lies. They want to see Trump fail. We will show them.

One more thing, many of you know how to make wine in your toilet. That’s incredible. Does anyone know how to make Diet Coke in a toilet?

[stackofeggs]

ok but that’s actually funny anon