Sunday, April 02, 2006

Sunday Morning Cartoons and Such

DON'T FORGET TO SET YOUR CLOCKS AHEAD ONE HOUR! Whew. Did that.

It's Marjory's birthday tomorrow, but I'm surprising her today with a few goodies -- so, off and on posts today and tomorrow. Wing it, folks. I am.

First off, some early morning links to brighten what's left of your weekend:

  • Jack T. Chick Redux
  • A revisionist Chick Tract for your Sunday morning needs (compliments of my paleo amigo Michael Ryan).

    And if that's not enough Sunday morn morality for you, take a gander at (not a shot of) these beauties:
  • Alcoholics Anonymous Comics: The Compleat Library (circa 1968-74)
  • Special thanks to Jason & Sam at CCS for steering me to 'em (and, oh yes, "thank you, Ethan," where ever you are).

    A couple of recent blogs I heartily recommend, and why:

    If you're hankering for more on the Center for Cartoon Studies experience, and not from this lowly instructor's point-of-view, it's my honor to steer you to first-year students Jon-Mikel Gates & Colleen S. Frakes's excellent new blog,
  • The Cowboy Orange Blog
  • (with their special thanks to Jonathan for the name). It's a site under construction but the blog is already extensive and jam-packed with art (including their own work), photos, insights, etc. that provides a peek at not only Colleen & Jon's day-to-day lives and creations but the current CCS scene in general. Add it to your weekly reads, particularly if you're curious about CCS and thinking about attending -- and please, do comment or ask questions there!

    A peculiarity of the Cowboy Orange design I will point out: at the bottom of the page, the "Next Page" line you click on to access the rest of the blog postings (and they go back three months) is hidden as red text at the base of the orange frame -- look closely, and click. Lots of good reading.

    BTW, Jon & Colleen's website awaits you at
  • The Cowboy Orange Corral
  • With the permission of the students, I'll link you to some other CCS sites soon.
    __

    Massachusetts-based filmmaking friend Marty Langford has the recent DVD release of the feature film Magdalena's Brain to boast (he produced, co-scripted and edited), but that's just the latest of his many film projects. Ah, OK, if you can't wait, click on
  • Glowing Screen.com
  • -- my ballyhoo for Marty and director/co-writer Warren Amerman's movie read, "At last, a "Brain" movie with brains and a backbone! In the tradition of the many beloved "brain" horror/sf/suspense flicks, Magdalena's Brain is the smartest of its breed since Donovan's Brain. This deceptively linear cinematic head-trip delivers a swift kick to the cerebellum before it's through..." -- and it does, too.

    Anyhoot, back to the point. I met Marty years ago and have been lucky enough to be invited to a number of his screenings, always eagerly awaiting the next project and surprise from this prolific talent. Thus far, Marty fesses up to having had hands in the 16mm short The Hidden Alien Blob Thing (1995), the Super16 short The Salesman (2000), and writing the original screenplay for the video feature Collinsville (2002), as well as working to create venues of other regional Massachusetts filmmakers of a similar bent (mind). Along with Magdalena's Brain and the less-satisfying exprience with Collinsville, Marty as another half-dozen or more completed scripts he's written or co-authored, and another project underway as I write this.

    Don't take my word for it. What the hell -- Magdalena has a brain, and now
  • Marty has a blog.
  • Check it out, and often!
    _____

    More later today...