B's Secret Invasion Part IV (intermission)

Alright, I've been bombarding you this week. I don't even want to know how long it takes this blog to load. Three posts in three days, each with like twenty pictures. Well this one has a lot of pictures too, but it will be the last update until Monday or Tuesday. I'd like to give you time to catch up if you haven't been following this San Diego adventure. Or if you have been reading, feel free to read it again. I hear it's even better the third time.

Faced with the thought of looking through my 400 remaining pictures and choosing a handful for the blog was just too daunting, so today I'm going to show off some of the arts I got. I've touched this topic briefly, but part of the fun of the convention is meeting comic (and other) artists and getting sketches from them. Sometimes it's free, sometimes it costs a little bit, but original art is a cool thing to have. Gotta respect these guys for doing art on their days off from their day job of doing art. Personally, I refuse to provide customer service when I'm not on the clock. I won't even give a quick "how may I help you."

So there's this comic right? It's called Local. It was a twelve issue series following this girl Meg, and in every issue she's in a different city. Before the con I got in touch with Local artist Ryan Kelly (husband of Friend of Microsuede Kat Vapid) and arranged for him to do a picture of Meg in Salt Lake City. I sent him some photos of Trolley Square for reference, and this is the end result:

Click to enlarge (the actual piece is 11X14). It's one of the coolest things I own. This is good enough to be on the cover of one of the issues, but instead it's resting in my lair. My expectations were exceeded.

I got this sketch from the writer of Local, Brian Wood. Took him about two seconds.

This is another one my favorites, from an artist I wasn't previously familiar with named Cameron Stewart. Way nice guy, and I bought his art book and was very impressed. He's maybe best known for drawing Catwoman but I asked him for a sketch of an "original lady."

J. Scott Campbell was a big score the first day because it seemed like he wasn't really doing sketches. I happened to catch him at the right time and got a quick drawing of his character, Abbey Chase. He said "it's going to be a real quick one, okay?" as if I'd complain about this:


Is this boring to anyone out there that doesn't care about comics? Too bad! Start your own blog.

This was a tough one to get, Humberto Ramos. He was always so busy but finally after a few days of trying I got this, Nico Minoru from Runaways.

One of the best series' ever (along with Local) is Alias (no affiliation with Jennifer Garner). It's a good book for non-comic fans. Especially if you like a lot of cursing. Here's the main character of Alias, Jessica Jones, by the series artist Michael Gaydos.

Nobody does curves like Josh Howard. Nobody, you hear me! I had him draw this Rosie the Riveter for me a few months ago, so this time I had him draw another American icon, Betty Page.

Did you guys know that I like The Wire? Well so does Steve Lieber, so I hit him up for a McNulty and an Omar.

And finally, the best sketch of the whole convention.

Pegleg Sullivan

Before I get to my disastrous weekend, let's wrap up the Chicago weekend. I mentioned that the impetus for this trip was to see the Edward Hopper exhibit. Sunday morning I cabbed down to the museum, and I wished I'd have gotten up a little earlier and walked. So much Chicago to see on the way there.

It was a ticketed affair and I had to wait in line longer than I had expected. The place was full of big dumb people and big loud families and I was worried that they were going to ruin everything for me. I'm very particular about my art viewing.

The Hopper exhibit was great, though very crowded. It had an effect on me I wasn't ready for. Seeing his work in person gave me a sinking feeling. Loneliness, isolation, anonymity. I guess that's what he was going for. His works are much more disturbing in person. For example, I always thought Chop Suey was just two ladies having a nice lunch. But in person you can see that the woman has heavy bags under her eyes, and that she's staring blankly off into the distance, not even looking at her dining companion.

Pictures weren't allowed but I snuck one anyway. Now I feel bad because what, the rules don't apply to me?



Surprisingly, these two ended up being my favorite. "Automat" and "Western Motel."

This was the final painting in the exhibit, and one of the last of his career. Of it he said "I am chasing Me." Sums up his body of work nicely I think.

Let's see what else this museum has to offer.

I like taking pictures of statues.

Is this beautiful or what? It was sculpted in the 1850s which kind of surprised me because it looks so contemporary.

I like old timey mapps.

Looks like the girl from Arcade Fire, right?

Hey! It's these guys.

This is my second favorite American Gothic, behind this guy I know Jimmy.

Van Gogh's bedroom. It makes me sad that he has his own paintings on the wall.

I've never seen this before, I really liked it. It's by some guy and it's called... something.

I left the museum and found myself caught in the middle of a protest!

Luckily it was a quiet riot and nobody was hurt.

Biting political satire. I'm sure it changed a lot of peoples minds.

Sightseeing? This is the Water Tower, the only structure from before the Great Fire that still stands. It's hard to photograph.

Tradition holds that the fire was started by Mrs. O'Leary's cow kicking over a lantern. This has been disproven, but other theories are more interesting anyway. One is that it was started when ol' Pegleg Sullivan tried to steal milk out of a barn. Another theory is that it was started by a meteor shower.

I had my trip all planned out and then decided to see if there were any cool shows that weekend. As it happens my favorite band was playing, along with up-and-comers Okkervil River at the Riviera Theater.

I fell in love with a girl at the show. She seemed to be designed to my exact specifications. And she held my spot while I went to get drinks. And when I stepped on her foot she said "That's okay!" and when I asked her if Okkervil River played the song "Black" she said "I'm not sure I missed the first fifteen minutes" and I said "Me too." Wow, it's just like in the movies. We exchanged furtive glances throughout the show and after it ended I tried to follow her out (not in a creepy way) but with a forlorn look backwards she vanished forever into the night.

Great show though. The New Pornographers were without co-singer Neko Case (ankle injury) but they still rocked it. I've seen them three times now and this might be the most energetic show I've been to (though other reviews have called it lackluster, so either those other reviewers are jaded or I'm just too much of a superfan apologist. probably somewhere in between).

They played a song called "Stacked Crooked" which they've never played live before this tour. That was awesome. If you've heard the song, you'll agree that this picture represents it well.

After this I found out the hard way that picture takin' isn't allowed at the Riviera. Whoops.

I was loitering about after the show, trying to decide what to do with my life. Members of both bands came walking by and went into this place. Problem! With them was comedian Todd Barry. I'm really not a fan of his work. Like, at all. What's worse, he was with a super cute woman a foot taller than him and way out of his league. And he was hanging with my band. Mr. Barry, you are now number 1 on my arch-nemesis list.

Then I was standing in front of this place and a girl came out to smoke and tried to convince me to join her inside for some jazz music or something. She was really cool, but she spit too much.

I finally ended up at a place called Club Foot. This bar was waaaay cool but unfortunately it was completely dead. The four people there were very friendly though, and there was this one dude who had had major brain surgery only a few days before.

Club Foot has the Elvisiest bathroom I've ever seen.

The walls are lined with toys, not unlike my living room. Check it out, Castle Greyskull.

Time for more walkin'. In front of the Tribune Building is a statue of the guy that said "Give me liberty or give me death!" or it might be the guy that said "I regret that I have but one life to give to my country." I always get those guys confused. I also don't know what he has to do with the Tribune. If only I had some way of finding out. Some sort of internet resource perhaps.

Michigan Avenue, near the Chicago River.

The river.

The cold and lonely streets.

Well, guess that pretty much covers it.

News on the March

Item! How many Tomato Snacks can B. eat during an hour-long episode of Lost?


Sixteen.


All told I think I ate two tomatoes and half a baguette. My friend JenP makes these every week for Lost and I like them so much that this week she made me my own platter. Mmmmm.

Item! This is what Salt Lake looks like right now.



It's also what my lungs feel like. I have a bit of a cold, but the Valley is also suffering from an inversion, which traps the smog and suffocates us all. We need a good storm to clear it out. The hazy air makes me angry and it feels like I should be able to complain to someone, but I guess I'm part of the problem since I drive a gas-guzzling SUV.

Item! A while ago I mentioned that I'm a big fan of comic/pin-up artist Josh Howard. I contacted him by e-mail and we made arrangements for him to draw an original piece for me. He has his own characters and also does great interpretations of various pop-culture sci-fi/fantasy icons. I had a hard time deciding what to have him draw but finally it hit me like a bolt of lightning. Rosie the Riveter! I've always kind of had a thing for Rosie.


I got my piece in the mail today and I couldn't be happier. So cool. I wish I could draw curves like that.



Item! Finally, sad news out of the B. camp as the cat, Wiggie passed away on Wednesday.

19 years old! He was a great little animal. Very mellow, just liked to hang out and eavesdrop on conversations. He always watched The Wire with me, though I'm not sure if he enjoyed the show or if I was just sitting in his spot. Catch you later on down the trail buddy.