‘55 Thunderbird, taxi conversion, $2,740,000 firm

space taxi

100+ years as a mid-galactic pleasure cruiser, this t-bird got a complete refit as an inter-galactic capable taxi, fully rated for wormhole transit, full atmo entry/exit (non-acidic only), two passenger cryo. Complete maintenance/refit logs going back 120 years, she still has twice that ahead of her. Powerplant is dual singularity, half life of 170 million years. Needs new upholstery, wipers have trouble with gas clouds. Price is firm, but will consider discount with percentage of gross if she runs as a cab (Business plan required.)

When Sharks Fly

sharks flying

Jakeem remembered what it was like before the sharks. He could play in the park, and go swimming. Now the only sky he saw, was through steel reinforced wire and glass. He asked his Dad why it happened, but doesn’t think he really knows. His Dad said it just happened, somehow. We did something wrong, broke the oceans somehow, and sharks just started flying. All of them.

Jakeem asked his Dad how do they fix it, but doesn’t think he knows that, either. His Dad told him they just have to figure it out, or learn how to live with them until it can get figured out. It might take a long time. It also, his Dad’s voice going kind of soft, might never happen.

Jakeem looked up at them, through the wire. And hoped it got fixed someday.

Jesus! Vs Darwin!

jesus darwin
Jesus Christ
Positives: Impressive stamina. Historically known for taking a beating, staying on his feet. Has history of miraculous resurrection.
Negatives: Invented Pacifism. Dangerous habit of turning the other cheek.

Charles Darwin
Positives: Invented Natural Selection. Understands what’s at stake with “Survival of the Fittest”.
Negatives: Theology student, nearly became an Anglican parson. Mixed feelings punching his Lord’s Only Son and Savior in the face.

The Deaths Were Unexpected

the deaths

They hadn’t had a party in such a long time. So when the Deaths arrived, it was a singular embarrassment. Edna was mortified. “Who invited them,” she hissed. She yanked Harvey from his cigars and into the living room. “Look at them,” she exclaimed. “How did they get in here?” Harvey swore he did not let them in. Edna shook her finger under his nose, insisted he must have. “They’re always invited,” she chided. “They have to be.” He shook his head again no. “Well if you didn’t invite them, who-” Edna froze. Harvey always was a little dim, but when he saw the fear in her eyes, he knew it too.

When they reached Alice’s room, they could already hear voices. The Deaths were there, sitting on the bed, talking to her. Harvey puffed his chest, pulled on his belt and demanded they leave. “It’s ok, Daddy,” Alice whispered. Mrs. Death was holding her hand, just below the IV. “Alice honey,” Edna pleaded. “They aren’t supposed to be here. You aren’t supposed to talk to them.” Alice tried to say something, but she had to catch her breath. After a while, she spoke. “I want to talk to them,” she whispered. Edna felt Harvey’s hand clasp hers. “They’re supposed to be here now,” Alice said. “I invited them.”

Edna and Harvey each kissed Alice. Mrs. Death told Edna she thought it was a wonderful party. Harvey closed the door behind them. They stood silently in the hall, until the conversation was too quiet to hear, and wept.

Beginner’s Bible Coloring Book

jesus dino
Dad, did dinosaurs really exist?
Sure they did, son. The Bible says so. They didn’t call them “dinosaurs” back then, but instead they were known as “leviathans” or “behemoths”.
But, my science teacher says dinosaurs lived millions of years ago. Is that true?
Of course not, son.
Then how old are they?
Well, let’s see. The Bible tells us [from Adam and Eve’s family tree] that the Universe is only a few thousand years old. So dinosaurs had to have lived within the past few thousand years. That’s simple logic, son.
Oh. So that means they were on Noah’s Ark?
Absolutely! The Bible says two of every animal were brought [by God] to the ark. Dinosaurs were animals. So, using your logic again son, dinosaurs had to be on the ark.
Read more

Cthulhu-Penguin is near

ctrhulu pengion

Cthulhu was from the other place, the dark place. It was the demon that demons feared, a god before gods were. A pulpy, tentacled grotesque, it devoured worlds and realities with a malignant hunger. Cthulhu was beyond scale and measures, willing to take any shape, inhabit any flesh vessel to feed. When it found such an opening, a tiny fissure between realities, it surged through with terrible, maddening speed.

And then promptly fell over.

Read more

Holly’s Hobby

hollys hobby

She felt her knuckle dislocate. Some of her ribs were cracked, or broken. A few of her teeth loosened, her jaw was on fire, and something not good was going on with her eye. Didn’t matter, she thought; almost done. The man beneath her had stopped struggling, a wet mess where his face once was. She hit him again anyway.

The second man lay, near fetal, in the bushes by the car. A low choking gurgle came from something, not his mouth. She would tell the police that she remembered nothing. They had slipped her something, she would say, and it made her black out. Her friends and family, she would tell them the same thing. After the bar, it was a complete blank.

Of course she would remember. She always remembered.

‘65 Volvo Amazon 4-door, $2,300,500 (firm)

space car

Reliable beauty, lots of personality. Original interior (no seriously!). rebuilt oxygen generator, back seat doubles as cryo-sleep unit for long hauls. Originally in-atmo only, she was converted to trans-galactic flight mid 22nd century. Technically still planet-capable, depending on atmo density. But I wouldn’t recommend re-entry before getting the belly plates checked out (she’s been deep space only for last century point five.) Minor micro-meteorite damage on trunk, manual overdrive sticks sometimes at 3x translight.

Nav system is old school voice activated, only answers to “Beverley”, or “Bev”. Which is weird, because it wasn’t programmed for that. Like I said, lots of personality. Price is firm, but some wiggle to right owner. She wants to fly.

Double Feature: The Omen vs Jaws

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“You’re going to need a bigger kid,” the Amity sheriff said, watching Damien play with the deputy’s german shepherd.

“I wouldn’t worry about it,” the Pentagon suit replied. “You may want to keep him away from the dog, though.”

“So what are you going to do,” the sheriff asked. “We don’t even know how to find this shark.”

“We just drop him in the water,” the suit replied. “He takes care of it.”

“Just like that?”

“Yep. Worked for Syria, “ the suit said, a tremble catching in his voice. “Ok Damien, you’re up. Get your water wings on, you’re going swimming.” The suit guided him to the helicopter, noticeably staying out of reach. Damien smiled.

Back on the dock, the deputy searched for his dog.

Former Pig Farmer

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The hardest part was directional motivation.

Some guys could afford real lifters. Silas heard they had a pack of elephants at the McCallister ranch, a whole pack. Over at the Triple T they rolled with ostrich and zebras, and there was a rancher Silas saw fly over once, maybe from the next county over, had himself a hippo. With a whole hippo Silas could fly all day, so high people would just be ants.

Silas couldn’t afford all them fancy animals, but that didn’t stop him. Little creativity, lot of zip ties, and he could go just as high as the rest.

Higher sometimes, with the right directional motivation.

Anger Managed

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They stole our children, took our babies in the night, and laughed at us. These animals, these pigs, they all deserve to die. For taking our children they will be crushed and dismembered and beaten until dead. No one will help us, we seek revenge alone. We are destruction and rage, we are death. This game rated E for Everyone.

In the Land of Terrible Dreams

nemo

Nemo had a dreadful sense that this dream was different. Instead of a gently surreal journey to Slumberland, he saw something he feared was of his own future, and it frightened him terribly. He encountered a seascape of adventure to be sure, but also great destruction, tragedy and death.
 
Then he awoke, as he always did. But this time there would be no consoling him, no escape from the haunting visions. Nemo refused to sleep after that night, throwing his mother and father into a panic, sending for this doctor and that. After many days of decline, they feared he would perish of this mysterious affliction. They may have been right, except for that first fateful pre-dawn day of Autumn, when the knock at the door came.
 
And the only person awake in the house to answer, was Nemo.

Double Feature

birds up

The Star Warriors. 
Fast Times at Airplane!

Drive-in Projectionist already wasn’t rocket science. Movies came in six reels, there were two projectors, when one reel was done you just had to time it right to close down the one and bring up the other. But then they put the platters in. Big flat wheels where all six reels would get assembled then fed into a projector. No more timing, no more switching. Just start the movie and go nap till it was done.
 
Alien: The Extra Terrestrial. 
Tootsie Driver.
 
Ray’s job wasn’t hardly a job no more. The hardest part was sitting through the whole platter to make sure he put it together in the right order. And if there were double features he’d be stuck watching both movies till almost dawn. To speed things up, Ray took to playing the movies on both projectors at the same time. Then he’d switch back and forth and get through both movies in half the time. After a while he started switching more often, playing a scene in one movie then mashing it with a scene from the other.
 
Logan’s Blade Runner. 
Close Encounters of the Lost Ark.
 
Word got around that there were late late night screenings of strange movies. Kids would sneak in, just sit on the dirt with the speakers in their laps. Each weekend more kids would come. They would make up movie names, bring ice chests, and cheer Ray’s knack for smashing scenes together.
 
The Thing of Endearment
Flash Gordon Strikes Back.
 
It seemed like forever, but it was only that one Summer. In the fall the town’s first video store opened, and the drive-in shuttered by the next winter. No one knew what happened to Ray, some say he went to hollywood to make movies. Others say he made wind sculptures in the woods for new age tourists.
 
But they’ll always remember that summer. The summer of movies that never were.

Rules of Engagement

tree burning

I was asked recently why I don’t do more autobiographical art, as if that’s something an artist is required to do. I found this sketch unfinished and since it was pretty close to something that actually happened I decided to complete it. I told my friend this was from the time I, with full intent and malice, burnt down the just finished neighborhood treehouse because the older kids (whose property it was on) wouldn't let the younger kids (who helped build it) play in it. I watched it burn to the ground, then volunteered to help the firefighters put the last embers out with their water cans, to deflect suspicion. I was seven.
 
My friend now understands why I don’t do more autobiographical art.

Flower Girl

flower girl

 

Since I moved to Bordeaux, my routine has been disrupted, to say the least. I started out trying to find a pub to sketch in, just like I would do back home. Couple of problems cropped up pretty quickly.
 
One, art draws a lot of attention in France. a lot. And I'm in a city with the largest population of college students in Europe; smart inquisitive young people, many of them studying art. So it's one awkward exchange after another, where I can't understand them.
 
For another, I miss my pub. I miss my friends and the people I love that revolved around that place. So when I go into another place and grab a beer and start to sketch, a deep sadness seeps in. Like I'm cheating on a lover that I still love.
 
I'm sure it will get better. But for now, the drawings are fewer. And harder.

Bordeaux Postcards

street sketches

 

My first day in Bordeaux, twenty hours of travel (without sleep), trying to shake being a whole day ahead. The hotel was drab and small, and my home for the next month until I found an apartment. I had to go kill a few hours so I could sleep through the jet lag in one go. The first building I found was once a wine storehouse, back when horses hauled casks around on carts. Now it was home to a variety of shops, including a massive art supply store.
 
The entire back half was dedicated to paper. Endless stacks and reams and books of paper of every size and type and press. I immediately found a small book of blank postcards, made from local pulp.
 
That's when I knew I was going to be ok here.

Stephen Colbert – The Delicate Art of Satire in This Modern World

Colbert_casual

"Do you think it's too much," he asked? "Is what too much," the producer replied, without looking up from his clipboard. "All this. the backdrop, the desk, the music. Don't you think we're getting to a point, possibly, where no one will take us seriously?" The producer, annoyed, looked up from the clipboard. "Well sir, we're more popular than we've ever been. The set, the music, this persona we've created, they all help the audience connect with you. Who cares if they take you seriously? We just want them to watch. Now sit please, we're on in 30." A little dejected, he sat at the desk and waited while the producer ran through the checklist.
 
"Cue Lights!"
"Cue American Flag Background!"
"Cue American Flag LCD Left!"
"Cue American Flag LCD Right!"
"Cue Desk American Flag LCD!"
"Cue Background Trumpets!"
"Cue National Anthem!"
"Cue Eagles!"
"Teleprompter Up!"
 
"Ok Mr. O'Reilly, we're live in three.. two.. one…"

And then, Bordeaux

Bordeaux skyline

Then at the consulate, terror. Everything had led up to this, months of preparation and expectation, all came down to this one appointment. I had already quit my job, sold my car, gave notice at my apartment, bought tickets, had a new job waiting for me. But without that visa stamp in my passport, it would all crumble.
 
There were six people ahead of me, and one by one, each failed to secure their visa. Each were declined over some small document missing, or forgotten signature. One girl was supposed to start a job in a week, instead she left in tears. A man had tickets for his wife and kids to fly this weekend, and he was summarily refused visas over a faxed document instead of an original. It was a bloodbath.
 
Then it was my turn. My circumstances were no more dire than any of the others. As prepared as I was, that damnable man would frown at every thing, tap his pen, furrow his brow, ask if I had an original for something that would have been impossible to get, then nod and move on.
 
And then I heard him say, as if from underwater, thank you and it should be in the mail by week's end.
 
One more week, and then Bordeaux.