Petri Dish Politics

The continuing descent into political insanity continues apace. I've long appreciated the perspective offered by first-hand experiences like this one

"Bloated Parasites"

Contrary to prevailing talking points, the truly bloated parasites are not the poor. I would have loved to see Gov. LePage, or any politician for that matter, do something about the honest working men and women in the state of Maine getting screwed over by exorbitant rents, but that would entail actually going up against rich people, the ruling class' best friends.

Fit (for a dog)

As in, having a fit. Bar Harbor has a supposed reputation of being a dog-friendly community. Even in the public library and many local businesses it isn't uncommon to see folks accompanied by their better halves.

Unfortunately this doesn't extend to trying to find rentals: either it's no pets at all, or "sorry, no dogs," or "sorry, no cats." This was one of the significantly contributing factors behind our having to ultimately bail out of Bar Harbor. I swear if I ever find myself a real estate mogul I'll make it mandatory that all applicants must have pets.

Toxicity Report: Gov. LePage

Just like home: it seemed many a Maine politician was as certifiably batshit crazy as their Alaskan counterparts. In this specific case, Governor Paul LePage once again demonstrated his awesome propensity for making a complete idiot of himself with regards to better living through chemistry:

“Quite frankly, the science that I’m looking at says there is no [problem],” LePage said. “There hasn’t been any science that identifies that there is a problem.”

LePage then added: “The only thing that I’ve heard is if you take a plastic bottle and put it in the microwave and you heat it up, it gives off a chemical similar to estrogen. So the worst case is some women may have little beards.” - Kevin Miller/Bangor Daily News

As it's been pointed out to me, this is the same fool who wants to do away with the Department of Education, which clearly promotes a vested self-interest in perpetuating an  equally ignorant class of voters, who no doubt in turn would share as stunning a command of basic science as LePage. 

PS: One of the better blogs I've discovered during my residency Down East was Dirigo Blue, along with the presence of Bill In Portland Maine's posting on Daily Kos. They do a great job keeping abreast of shenanigans in that neck of the woods.

Maine Edits

Call this the jettisoning of ballast: purging the backlog of tasteless Maine material. Maybe "bilge-water" is a better description for the tasteless stuff that makes some of the pages in the sketchbook stick together. Meaning I'll actually staple particular pages shut before passing around my sketchbook when doing a classroom show & tell, as there have been times when I've noticed a few students in a huddle pointing at and giggling over an inappropriate doodle sandwiched in amongst the usual nonsense. Usually I'm not terribly concerned at public displays of weirdness or filtering questionable content (as regular readers of this blog know well), but there is a time and place for when judicious editing is perhaps a more mature decision. That said, this is not one of those. 

"Primal Power"

I briefly alluded to the influence my hiatus in coastal community will have on the regular Nuggets feature, in that a brand-new element has been added to the cartoon mulch-pile. This expanded repertoire opens up gag settings into a different environment than that of Interior Alaska.

This particular panel reminded me of the many submission packets I had sent to several South East Alaska newspapers years ago while making an annual push for self-syndication. One of the pitfalls I encountered was making fun of topics that, within the context or locale of the target audience, weren't all that funny. Specifically, drowning is a subject that is, if not affecting them personally, than still to many folks in that area it's a taboo subject.

Even my brief experience with Hurricane Tropical Storm Irene and the subsequent stint as a Ranger on crowd-control duty keeping folks off the rocks, sensitized me to the reality of tragedy that is very real for coastal residents. So I was fortunate to have the opportunity to address the more serious side of this topic with one of my internship illustrations: never turn your back on the ocean!

"No Health Plan"

Ahhh, the bliss of domesticity (my last bout of uninsured illness not withstanding). Though being a semi-feral artist probably constitutes as having a pre-existing condition.

Newtered: My (Pious) Baloney Has A First Name

During one of the televised Republican debates, I don't know which was ultimately more depressing: listening to the candidates cheerleading war, or the audience thumping their puffed up, hollow chests in response. A most telling exchange was when one candidate had the audacity to cite the Golden Rule as a justification for the USA to stop being the global leader in death-dealing/war profiteering - and he was roundly booed for it.

And I started jumpin up and down yelling, "KILL, KILL," and he started jumpin up and down with me and we was both jumping up and down yelling, "KILL, KILL." - Alice's Restaurant (Arlo Guthrie)

"Ready For ANYTHING"

As of today we are on the road, migrating back North. So this particular panel is appropriate for a couple reasons. It initially came to mind during one of the protracted cold-snaps that settled down over the Interior this winter. Amazing how many folks still lack the common sense to pack the car with subzero survival gear, as even a routine jaunt to town can turn into a potentially life-threatening situation.

Even so, I wasn't there, and there sure isn't wasn't any snow here, so a little artistic license in the form of projection was taken with the setting. Meaning, I forgot to add snow.

Interlude: Ef-fur-tless

No matter what it is - they always make it look so easy...

The next few weeks of posting will be intermittent with some random Nuggets, material uncovered by the Low Tide, doodles, sketches and archived samples unearthed from the compost heap, while the migration is underway and the herd is on the road. Apologies if I don't get around to comments, and thanks for checking in... be back soon.

The Beehive (Bonus Hike)

The Beehive + Champlain Mountain

No really, I swear that this is the last time. Honest. 

Had a couple spare hours early this morning to squeeze in one more trail, especially since we scored another day of record-breaking temperatures with a clear, blue sky above. I explored one of the more popular spots on the island, just off the open section of the Park Loop Road with the trailhead located right across from Sand Beach. 

Soluitur Ambulando

View from Norumbega of the Western Mountains

Soluitur ambulando: Latin proverb for "the matter is solved by walking." After so much immersion and focus on the political wasteland and contentious issues, it's purging to take a nice, long hike. More than drawing editorials at least. One last time (we'll see how many times I get away with that line over the next few days before departure), and this was the final summit left on the list as far as checking out every single high point in the Acadia National Park.

View from Norumbega of Sargent Mountain

Inner Sanctum Santorum

No doubt jealous of progressively medieval states like Texas and Alabama, Interior Alaska legislators have whelped Alaska SB191. 
“An Act requiring an ultrasound before an abortion” is the love-child of North Pole Senator John Coghill, but note that it is also co-sponsored by two other men and two women - one each of whom are Democrats - proving once again that Alaska really does unite the batshit crazy, and that cruel, vindictive stupidity transcends partisanship and gender. 

A Nip In The Bud

The frothing confluence of religious and political positions on issues of reproductive justice is a central, defining theme in this presidential election. Caveat: as will be noted in an upcoming post regarding specific legislative efforts in Alaska, this isn’t necessarily the providence of any particular party. But the sheer number of legislative efforts sweeping the nation to police the uterus is squarely on account of the overwhelmingly white, male, Christian arm trunk of the Republicans poking about where it's not wanted.
 

My default positions on this issue is the “none of your business” angle, which, being a man, is most often the best approach. That said, one of the core reasons I have tremendous empathy with women with regards to reproductive health choices, is the personal one I took for myself. And I believe men should also step up, take a stand, and back reproductive freedom of choice.

Trudeau: The Cartoon Scarlet Letter

Image: G.B. Trudeau

Once again, G.B. Trudeau's "Doonesbury" strip is being taken to task for the tackling of taboo topics over the course of this particular week. While this speedbump in syndication is being pretty well covered by many mainstream media venues, there are a few questions that arise from the laughable treatment of his feature that merit special mention.

"And now, here's something we hope you'll really like!"

A brief note in passing to one of my personal inspirations who passed away one year ago today, Alexander Anderson Jr.

Closed Captioning

Just a little bit further down the slime-line from ripping off cartoonists, now there's re-captioning New Yorker gag panels with random Santorum quotes, which is about as funny as doing it with random Charlie Sheen quotes, which is almost as original as pairing them with Kayne West tweets. None of which should be confused at all with doing it using clever, literal captions. But seriously, without expressly labeling each example, it's pretty hard to any of them apart from each other. Which is an insight about one particular approach to cartooning, and by extension, the nature of humor itself.

...The Anti-Herblock

Image: Mike Lester

As counterparts to the previous post on the Herblock Award, two currently controversial images by editorial cartoonists, Gary McCoy and Mike Lester, both deserve some serious and wider exposure. As in "sunlight makes the best disinfectant." Each exemplifies perfect mirror-images to the work of Bors and Jensen, and make for great bookends for comparison and contrast against criticism from both ends of the political spectrum. However, seeing as how there foundation's mission statement is...

“The Foundation is committed to defending basic freedoms, combating all forms of discrimination and prejudice and improving the condition of the poor and underprivileged.”

... it presumably will be some time before either of these artists will be nominated for any such prestige. Both of these cartoons in question add absolutely nothing to the topic's debate whatsoever, nor contribute any new ideas or nuanced perspective on the issue - they both simply copy Limbaugh's own words and/or echo the prevailing sentiment by reinforcing the original misconception of Fluke's testimony, and just make an illustration to accompanying the misogynistic sentiment (Lester's panel has the additional bonus of a racist element).

In addition to all the deserved attention, McCoy is now claiming (so far without offering any evidence) to be the victim of death threats, and is doubling down on his disingenuous insistence that he wasn't even portraying Fluke. Which, besides being an admission of failing to achieve the goal of drawing a recognizable editorial cartoon, instead means it encapsulates the underlying narrative from conservatives and Republicans: that the target in question is indeed... all women.

Image: Gary McCoy

2012 Herblock Award: Matt Bors

Image: Matt Bors

In a huge upset to the cartooning status quo, this year's Herblock Prize was awarded to editorial cartoonist Matt Bors, with the runner-up going to Jen Sorensen. Both artists live in Portland, Oregon, and both are testament to the existence of relevant, progressive cartoonists whose work is consistently more edgy than that of Trudeau, who is ironically the current source of controversy in the media, is giving the award ceremony lecture. 

Also of note is that both of these cartoonist's work currently runs on one of the leading left-leaning blogs on the internet, Daily Kos, who is one of the few established on-line communities to step up and fill the void left by the vanishing venues of editorial cartooning. As opposed to the constant death-march of grim news about the state of the industry, Bors and Sorensen stand out as examples to the contrary, and offer much in the way of inspiration and hope to other alternative cartoonists.

Congratulations are in order for both cartoonists who address important issues in unique, distinctive visual styles.

Image: Jen Sorensen

Blagden Preserve

Cove: Shadow

Still interluding... deviating from the funny papers and the continuing political nonsense, not to mention taking advantage of the record-breaking weather trends happening in this national neck of the woods. It almost broke sixty here yesterday, and I pumped up the mountain bike's tires for a quick mile down the road to Indian Point Blagden Preserve, one of handful of The Nature Conservancy properties here in Maine. 

Hiking Interlude/Trail Update

Summit of Beech Mountain

"Bored" - Thousandth Posth

Just about the deepest comment I could possibly ever make at this monumental point. But seriously, it's a pet peeve of mine to hear anybody utter those deadly words "I'm bored." Particularly so when that's an all-too-frequent Facebook status update of some otherwise creative folks I know. Ranks right down there with "I just don't know what to draw." There's too much going on in the world and in my head at any given moment to ever know what that's like. 
Not to mention all the other stuff I probably should be doing instead of drawing blogging...

"Suet"

On the offhand chance I ever do get accused of being a lard-ass so-and-so well technically it ain't all about the butt.

Exposed: "Bare Summits"

Speaking of mountains and ol' timers, I hadn't been aware that one of the earlier names for Denali up in Alaska was "Dinsmores Peak" (or alternately "Densmores"). According to a post on "All Things Maine" blog, Maine native Frank Dinsmore was a prospector who had some mining claims in the Klondike, and became a fan of the relabeled Mount McKinley after seeing it from Lake Minchumina in 1889.

"The (Alaskan) One Percent"

One reasons insolent cats will never waltz through a dog-yard. Especially this one seeing as how someone forgot to draw any collars or chains. After stripping off the masthead and border this panel became an editorial instead. 
Plus it will be nice to return to a land where the dog-houses and trees look normal familiar.

"Toothpickers"

Along with being both the whitest and oldest state in America, Maine produces 90% of our toothpicks (update: it was). Not that there is any causal connection.
Here's an aside about composition: posted below is the raw scan of this particular panel, which is interesting to compare and contrast with the finished version above. Nothing major, mostly subtle shifts so as to give a bit more visual "breathing room" around the elements. That's a frequent criticism of amateur cartoons: they sometimes look a bit cramped, and when everything is too crowded it can turn into a series of optical speedbumps that add up to the viewer glazing over, as opposed to smooth reading of the image. This is similar to the concerns in taking care while lettering - keeping everything legible includes the pictorial ingredients. That said, if you can't handle a single panel cartoon, that might be a symptom of something a little more serious than a weak composition. Still, when I'm finished inking and it doesn't look quite right, that's usually a sign some digital tweaking might improve the layout of the piece.

Another factor that comes into play as far as composition is concerned is the deliberate layering, or overlapping of particular elements to suggest or enhance foreshortening, which in turn better establishes depth in the panel. In this case, even the comparative scale of the toothpicks recede in size as they diminish towards the horizon line, along with the figures and accompanying dialogue balloons.

Barrier (to) Contraception

Wrap That Rascal! In an obvious pitch for the Republican vice-presidential nomination behind Santorum, conservative centerfold model Rush Limbaugh has been publicly insulting women who use birth control as being "sluts," "prostitutes," having "boyfriends lined up around the block," and calling for pornographic videos of their sexual activities in exchange for providing them with contraceptives. If only we could employ the most current method of birth control popular amongst this crowd, which is for women to hold an aspirin between their knees... except in this case it would be held instead between their lips, so as to prevent them from spreading.

While many are calling for a boycott of Limbaugh's sponsors (which is starting to work in a handful of cases) true change begins at home: better yet to target the notorious Clear Channel corporation's metastasized outbreaks in Alaska - the radio stations KFBX 970-AM in Fairbanks and KENI 650-AM in Anchorage - who profit from pimping ugly shit like this while polluting the airwaves. Personally I try and make it a habit to turn right around and walk out of any business that has stations like those, or FOX, playing in the background, as it's generally a good sign that their work will be incompetent at best. 

"Catbook"

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