Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in David Lasky's LiveJournal:

[ << Previous 20 ]

Wednesday, May 15th, 2013
3:30 pm	Cornish BFA Show Last night I went to Cornish College of the Arts, Seattle's premiere art school, for their annual BFA exhibition, where graduating seniors show off their final projects.  There was some great illustration on display by future art stars, Lillian Beaty and Elaine Lin, some cool motion graphics by Minie Choi, and the beginnings of an ambitious cyber-punk comic book by Lyta Sigmen.  There were also some mysterious zines with no name to identify the author, but I wrote down his name: Maxwell Watson. The Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery curator Larry Reid was there, and noted to me that the new graduates seemed to be divided: either going full-on into digital projects with nothing 'tactile' for the viewer, or taking a step back to look at 20th century technology (typewriters, film cameras, vinyl records, books on paper) and celebrate the more tactile analog culture. (Comment on this)
3:06 pm	This Monday in Seattle... (Comment on this)
Sunday, May 12th, 2013
7:22 pm	Mission Comics Signing Recap On April 17, 2013, I did a signing at Mission Comics and Art (on 20th in San Francisco's Mission District, just 12 blocks from where I lived in the summer of 1991; nice to see the old neighborhood again).  I met up with Richard Berman beforehand and we talked about our high school days in Virginia and our favorite teacher, William S. Blackwell.  At the signing, many more friends and family were in attendance, including my Aunt Karen and Uncle Chris (down from Petaluma!), former Pulse Magazine editor Marc Wiedenbaum, who gave me some of my earliest illustration jobs, James Masente who I once collaborated with, my brother Jason, my father and his wife Mary, and Mary's son Andrew.  The big surprise of the day was the appearance one of my favorite cartoonist peers: Gabrielle Gamboa, who came down from Santa Rosa. The store's owner, Leef Smith, set up a projector and screen, and I gave a talk on the making of "Carter Family: Don't Forget This Song".  Then I signed some books and left a few copies of Urban Hipster and The Intruder.  The store was great -- I also did some shopping while I was there!  So glad there is a good comic book store in a neighborhood that already sells America's best burritos. (Oh yes, and I did indulge in a burrito before the event, and managed to spill sauce on my pant legs.  I don't think anyone noticed.) More photos are posted here. (Comment on this)
6:54 pm	The Surprise of my Life So I was waiting around at Time Tested Books in Sacramento, where I was scheduled to do a signing in support of the “Carter Family: Don't Forget This Song” graphic novel.  It was April 18, 2013, and I was a half hour early.  I had asked the legendary cartoonist/musician Robert Armstrong to come and play a few Carter Family songs at the event.  I was waiting for him to show up, in the mostly empty store, to see if he needed help setting up.   A few minutes before starting time, he walked into the store, and right behind him came a bearded man in spectacles, looking very much like Robert Crumb. I quickly looked away and thought: “That can’t be Robert Crumb!” He lives in France after all.  But then again, he and Armstrong used to play together in The Cheap Suit Serenaders.  I looked back and found that the bearded man was indeed Robert Crumb, a man many consider to be the world's greatest living cartoonist.  He shook my hand and asked if Frank (Young) was going to be there.  I told him that Frank would have been there, had he known that his pen-pal R. Crumb was going to attend. I had requested that Armstrong play few Carter Family songs, then a few old time songs of his choosing.  The two of them played a lot more than I’d expected, and treated the audience of 25-30 people to what felt like an hour’s worth of music.  The Carter Family songs sometimes had gaps in the lyrics; Mr. Armstrong (on a Gibson L5 guitar, Mr. Crumb on Banjo) apologized, explaining that he’d had to “cram” to learn some of these songs, to meet my request.  In the second half, with some instrument changes, they played material they were more familiar with, and the musical sparks started to fly. My father was in attendance, and whispered to me: “Is that really R. Crumb?”  “Yes,” I answered.  “What’s he doing here?” – “I don’t know.”  - “Well, you didn’t give him much of an introduction.”  I had nervously introduced “The Two Bobs” and after reading a few prepared remarks about Bob Armstrong (creator of Mickey Rat), simply said: “And this is Bob Crumb, who I’m sure you all know.”  So, during an instrument change, I cited my father’s admonishment and tried to give a more proper introduction… “He normally lives in France, but is making a rare appearance here tonight. He’s a comics legend, and he’s my hero; this is a big night for me.” Crumb interrupted: “Your hero?!  Harold Gray is your hero.”  I agreed and added Frank King to my short list of cartooning heroes.  As things wound down, they asked the audience for a request.  Someone said: “How about a train song?” Someone else: “I’ve Been Workin’ on the Railroad!”  Crumb jumped into "Workin' on the Railroad" and played the whole song beautifully. Armstrong commented something to the effect of: “That’s the last word in Cornball Americana.”  They closed with a smokin’ instrumental. When the fun was over, I managed to sign a few books and chat with some old friends who came to the event, two from my high school, one from college, and two Pulse Magazine alums (Jackson Griffith and cartoonist Michael King).  Patrons talked with Crumb and Armstrong, and I got to meet cartoonist/musician Christine Shields as well. My father talked politics with Crumb (who showed us his French medical card – “I can get treated and when I leave [the doctor’s office] there is no charge.”).  My dad concluded that now it was up to us younger folks to fix all the problems.  And so ended one of the best evenings of my life. One final note: The owner of Time Tested Books, Peter Keat, had told Crumb and Armstrong that the Cheap Suit Serenaders had played at his wedding about 30 years ago.  Crumb and Armstrong asked the same question that was on my mind: “Has the marriage lasted?”  “Yes,” said Mr. Keat, “the marriage has lasted all these years.”  Crumb breathed a sigh of relief… “You managed to avoid the curse of the Cheap Suit Serenaders.” More photos from the event are posted here.   Current Mood: Wow (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, May 1st, 2013
8:27 pm	Final April Poems 4/28/13 Ultimate Wonder Woman Deflecting bullets, she is knocked unconscious, Tied up and asked to tell the truth, "A beautiful woman is still a person, and wants to be treated as such," She escapes, ties the man up, And demands he tell the truth, "Men are ruled by biological urges; Stuggling against them makes us more human." Flying off, she wonders, "Why has it always been this way?" 4/29/13 I'm interested in making A small poster Let me know what details You'd like on it And if it's in color Or black and white 4/30/13 106 Bus A white dog  Peers over a Tall fence expectantly A tree has a large Branch sagging to The ground A girl walks alone her Long hair hanging Before her (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, April 28th, 2013
8:40 pm	April 27 poem Like the samurai Who grabs whatever is at hand To use as a shield Or as a weapon, Find poems In the notes you jot down And hidden within A poem already written (Comment on this)
8:38 pm	April 26 poem You wear an invisible locket That contains all the words you need, Only you can see it But I would guess it's shaped like a human heart or possibly the elevator that bursts through the roof of The building where chocolate is made (Comment on this)
8:36 pm	Catching up on my poems April 23 Trees rain down petals Monsters attack each other Pollen allergies April 24 Drawing Exercises Draw your hand Draw your shoe Draw the person across from you Draw a small object as big as you can Let your eyes guide your hand April 25 The same girl rides the bus: As a sixth grader, gawky, With her long hair, backpack, And instrument case, and as A high school senior, self-assured, Neither knowing that the other is there. (Comment on this)
Monday, April 22nd, 2013
10:35 am	Happy 75th Birthday, Dad! My 4/22 poem is for my father on his birthday... In my last year of high school I was taking a government class But I was more interested in girls And it seemed I might not pass The teacher, whom we called 'Chuck' Kindly gave me one last chance my father, a devotee Of great political thinkers Poured me a coffee (Though I was not a coffee drinker) Went over books with me At the dining room table we lingered Almost all night long Until I had a grasp Of Marx and Engels, Locke and Hobbes, And other things I'd missed in class, Thank you, Dad, for urging me on, You've always had my back. (Comment on this)
10:14 am	More "Poems" 4/20/13 Superhero Questions Why the cape? Does the mask make it hard to drive? How do you fly? Why the underpants on the outside? 4/21/13 51st and Telegraph A sign for hardware Advertising Dutch Boy Paints Has outlived its store (Comment on this)
12:15 am	Poem backlog 4/15/13 Assignment OuBaPo Draw a comics page with many panels But not on a grid Scatter panels around and provide more than one possible path for the reader to take in the spaces between panels And then think about how this affects or doesn't affect the sense of time on your page 4/16/13 Portrait of Nicole Painted quickly, in 1990 On the field of grass facing Jamestown Road, like most Of my volunteer models, She is reading I have forgotten her last name. 4/17/13 "What color comes next?" Mollie asks, "What color now?" Painting a rainbow 4/18/13 Walking down Mission Street, One man fixes shoes on the sidewalk, Another sells churros on a corner, "Churros, churros," "Churros, churros," He sings, I find the tacqueria That Leef recommended And put in my order, veggie burrito, It is made by a young man In a Ghost Busters t-shirt, Where are the women asking "Black beans or pinto?" Not here, wrapped in foil it is packed With chips and two sauces In a small paper bag I hold it, warm, against my chest   though it's a sunny day After walking some blocks, wet on my hand Sauce from the bottom, dripping, Splashing my clean pants and black shirt Will anyone notice? 4/19/13 Sunlight peeks in around the shade I'm awake But my eyelids protest My thoughts race, I'm awake But I fell well short of eight hours Maybe slumber deserves another chance (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, April 14th, 2013
2:05 am	Fake Bob Dylan Anybody could see That it was destined to be, A program that invents new Dylan songs. It will pick out the key, And a good melody, And synthesize it in the voice of Bob. Just give it some time, And it will make up some rhymes, Complete with guitar and harmonica, Or for variety’s sake You could request a retake In hard rock, jazz, blues, or symphonica. It concocts songs of love, And the moon up above, Though purists complained that's not Dylan-esque. And worse, it made jingles for things like Lite BeerTM and PringlesTM, and products even more grotesque, The listeners protested, Said their ears’d been molested, And requested no more fake Dylan songs. The programmers freaked, They held a critique, And realized they’d misread the throngs. “We need new algorithms” “With less antagonisms” “We’ll build a virtual synchopator,” So they sweetened the guitars, And smoothed out the r’s, And created a Paul McCartney generator. [Note to the editors of the Oxford English Dictionary, and various word definition websites: This is in a poetic form I call "Dylanelle", a word I invented to describe a poem that borrows its rhyme scheme from a Bob Dylan song. -David Lasky] (Comment on this)
Saturday, April 13th, 2013
9:09 am	Poem for 4/13/13 Untamed City There are still ridges Looming, muddy, over houses Still gravel roads that Give way to grass and twin puddles Roots under sidewalks Moss growing between shingles (Comment on this)
Friday, April 12th, 2013
12:27 am	Poem for 4/12/13 Constraints a game, a challenge for the creator; most interesting when invisible (Comment on this)
12:24 am	Poem for 4/11/13 Autobio Challenge Make an autobio comic of at least Nine panels you can't Draw yourself   For an additional challenge:     Do not use the word "I" or     Do not use the letter "i" or     Do not use any words       Do not use pictures either (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, April 11th, 2013
1:56 pm	Poem for 4/10/13 This is an update to my "Catalog of Extremely Rare Comic Books"... World Peace Comics #1 For years, collectors knew about World Peace Comics #2 with its cover image of Frankenstein playing with war orphans, but no one had ever seen a first issue of the title. Recently, evidence of World Peace Comics #1 surfaced in an attic in Maine.  Ten copies of the cover, just the cover, torn off by hand, and used as bookmarks in an accounting ledger, were found in the home of a deceased former drugstore owner. The cover image suggests that the issue (dated May 1948) contained a fictionalized story of the founding of the United Nations at the 1945 conference in San Francisco. The artist and writer are unknown. The actual contents of the comic book remain a mystery.   (Comment on this)
Wednesday, April 10th, 2013
12:23 pm	Poem for 4/09/13 God exists But is not a he, she, or an it Still, God is not a figment God doesn’t speak English or any other human language God is not a linguist God is ubiquitous And occupies the great cosmic rift God is beyond understanding   (2 Comments |Comment on this)
12:22 pm	Poem for 4/08/13 Night, early April All’s quiet, except for me Tapping laptop keys (Comment on this)
Monday, April 8th, 2013
7:02 am	Poem for 4/07/13 an overdue haiku: Quiet night at home Vent over the stove, murmurs Echoing raindrops (Comment on this)
Saturday, April 6th, 2013
11:58 pm	Poem for 4/06/13 After an after-school teaching gig I was running for a bus downtown because it was Leeann's birthday and I wanted to take her out, but I was running at Third and Pine for a number five bus and I tripped on an uneven tile of sidewalk, I hadn't really eaten much all day and maybe wasn't as alert as usual, I got a hand up between me and the concrete but still managed to land on my left cheekbone and actually saw stars like they do in cartoons, but it was more like lightning on a personal level, a kind man helped me up and asked if I was OK, I really didn't know if I was OK, I said to him: I think I just fell face- first on the sidewalk and he nodded, the many people standing at the stop just stared as if I was (Comment on this)