Longstreth

“Reeeally?”

In the latest issue of the pen review newsletter Pen Parade, Hallie Bateman blows the doors wide open on the crunchy orange secret that Big Pen doesn’t want you to know about — a carrot dipped in ink.

It glows in the dark, too!

“Ex-squeeze me? Baking powder?”

I’ve been enjoying Poking a Dead Frog: Conversations with Today’s Top Comedy Writers by Mike Sacks.

I could pick out just about any random paragraph from the entire George Saunders interview and it would be worth sharing, but I love particularly how he talks about writing with spontaneity and editing:

…Maybe not “mistakes,” but a certain crudity of expression; this feeling that the writer is bearing so much vital news that he can’t slow down and be fastidious about presentation. Or, conversely, that his truth is so powerful that it is malforming the vessel that is carrying it. And for writers, with our infinite powers of revision, we can even go a step further: We can be spontaneous and messy and, liking that effect, revise the text so as to make it seem even more spontaneous and messy — while at the same time actually “clarifying” those qualities.

At the highest level, revision is about anticipating what most writers would do and then asking: Well, is there anything deeper or better or livelier that I could make happen? Not just for the sake of it, but because the new thing might really be richer? Can it somehow contain more “life” by eluding the usual tropes and expectations?

Hug Machine is coming, you guys… check it

“If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine.”

A well-worn stairway leads to a house on Oahu’s North Shore, November 1979.Photograph by Robert Madden, National Geographic

You guys, I had the incredible pleasure of visiting Portland to see the new Zombie In Love musical based on the picture book i illustrated with Kelly DiPucchio!  It was created and performed by the Oregon Children’s Theater and it was just so so good!  I could not believe it.  I had a little bit of tears about it i think.  And the songs were really catchy, you guys.

Marci Crowson, the director, was kind enough to take us on a little backstage tour prior to the show where we checked out stage miniatures and props.  I was super excited to see worm hand puppets!  After the show, we signed books for the kids and met the cast.  It really was so impressive and just so much fun, you guys.  I HIGHLY recommend checking it out!  It runs until March 23rd.

There were also a few local cartoonists invited to the show that evening to do some sketches inspired by the production: Mike Russell, Lucy Bellwood , and my buddy Graham Annable even did some sweet cartoons.  They are posting them somewhere.  i will find out and then add it to this post here.

I would like to share with you some photos of my visit and the play itself.  More of the professional production photos can be found HERE, if you are interested. And more from our visit can be found HERE.

Here are some of the professional photos of the production that i definitely did not take. They added school scenes and more build up of Mildred’s character and i loved it!  They also added the worms as narrators and moral support for Mortimer. Super cute.     Here is am with the director, Marci Crowson!         And here are the amazing leads Blake Peebles and Madison Wray…     Here’s Mildred’s room, you guys….   The theater was real pretty as well. Reminded me of Shakespeare’s Globe theater, only not a globe shape…   They even had Mortimer’s zombie dog on his coffin couch!     Look at these cute mini sets Marci made for the production team…    Here is the props table. Worm puppets, you guys!  Right there on the table!

Signing books and meeting kids…

Mike, Lucy, Graham, and James!

I had my picture taken with the cast. What a splendid cast..

Happy hikers pass in front of Table Mountain in Washington, April 1960.Photograph by B. Anthony Stewart, National Geographic

Last night at the Brooklyn Yule Ball there was a 9 or 10 year old girl dressed all in white. She was carrying an envelope around her neck and was cosplaying as Hedwig. 

After the show ended, she gave us the letter she had been wearing. 

MAGIC IS REAL. 

The Christmas Wish (1998) free on YouTube

This one has it all. Doogie Howser (NPH) leaves his douchebag job on Wall St to return to the small town he grew up in to run his grandpa’s real estate business after grandpa passes away. In his quest to uncover the truth about a mysterious woman mentioned in Grandpa’s journals, Doogie learns important life lessons and finds love in smalltown USA. No cliche is left unexplored.

Recommendation: MAYBE

Christmas Every Day (1996) free on YouTube

This is a Family Channel movie from the mid-90’s. It’s basically Groundhog Day but starring an annoying 12-year old who can’t act. I appreciated the anti-corporate sentiment as most everyone in town is upset that the kid’s asshole uncle is trying to open a megamart in town. I don’t know what happens at the end because I feel asleep. 

Recommendation: DOUBT IT

Ernest Saves Christmas (1989) free on YouTube

I hasn’t seen this one for like 20 years. I’m not sure I’d classify it as a “must-watch” but it held up better than I expected. Santa is old and he’s trying to recruit a new guy to fill the red suit. It’s pretty adorable. Ernest drives him around in a taxi. I fell asleep, so I’m not sure how it ends, but the title of the movie probably gives it away. 

Recommendation: YES

Desperately Seeking Santa (2011) free on the ABC family

Attractive lady is a corporate lackey who works in PR at a shopping mall. Her awful corporate overlord is threatening to close the mall if she can’t bring in major business for the holidays. She cooks up a Sexy Santa contest and then falls for the babe who wins. This bulked-up sweetie has his own problems where he’s trying to save his Dad’s pizza place from being paved over for a high-rise condo complex. In a twist we never saw coming, her awful corporate overlord is the developer behind the complex. She must choose between the cushy VP job her bastard boss is dangling and her new working class stud. This movie takes place in Boston and no one has an accent.

Recommendation: OK

The Santa Clause (1994)

This movie is awesome. You already knew that right? I’ve watched it twice this year. 

Recommendation: DUH

The Snow Globe (2007) free on Netflix or ABC Family

A nice young Italian girl who works for her wacky family’s delicatessen in Queens gets a magical snow globe. She can enter the magical world inside the snow globe which is a tiny town where everyone knows each other and spends their whole days ice skating and eating cookies. It’s an escape from all her problems in the real world. But what happens when the two worlds collide?

Recommendation: SURE

Jingle All the Way (1996) free on Netflix

I was asleep for most of this, but it seemed like some kind of nightmare capitalist anthem of the 90’s where material possessions are valued above all principles of human decency. Maybe there were life lessons at the end? 

Recommendation: NO WAY

I’ll Be Home for Christmas (1998) free on Netflix

This is a late-90’s JTT vehicle. JTT plays some show-off rich kid in college trying to convince his overly nice girlfriend that he’s a cool person. They go on a road trip and then I fell asleep. I’m going to assume JTT discovers the spirit of Christmas and becomes less terrible. My brother said the movie was good. 

Recommendation: MEH

Unaccompanied Minors (2006)

Breakfast Club-style movie where a snowstorm shuts down an airport and a bunch of unaccompanied kids from different socio-economic backgrounds find themselves on the same team as they try to outsmart the baddies running the airport who want to ruin Christmas. Director Paul Feig (creator of Freaks and Geeks) ensures there are enough smart and endearing teen moments to make it fairly watchable. Most of the adult cast is from either the Daily Show or the Office. 

Recommendation: SURE

Snow (2004) free on Netflix

This was the most unexpectedly awesome discovery of the holidays. There’s a new insecure, but attractive Santa Claus who is prepping for his first Xmas when some poacher steals one of this reindeer and sells it to a zoo. He has to rescue the reindeer and, in the process, falls for the nice zookeeper lady. Good acting and some really great new twists on the Santa Claus backstory. Recommended!

Recommendation: YES

Snow 2: Brain Freeze (2008) free on Netflix

I slept through this entire movie, but Meredith said it was good. 

Recommendation: MEREDITH SAYS YES

Santa Buddies (2009) free on Netflix

This is a movie where talking puppies somehow end up driving Santa’s sleigh around. It started kinda cool with some rad ice cave and a magic Christmas icicle or something, but then it went downhill rapidly. They had some stupid dog-version of Santa Claus called “Santa Paws.” This movie was the most intolerable piece of trash I’ve ever seen. I am thankful that I was able to sleep through most of it.

Recommendation: MASOCHISTS ONLY 

A Christmas Kiss (2011) free on Netflix

A girl has a weird, impromptu kiss with a random guy in an elevator and feels “a connection.” She wants to bring the magic back, but then discovers that this guy is her horrible boss’ boyfriend. I don’t know how it ends because I fell asleep, but I’m betting it worked out for the main character girl. 

Recommendation: DUNNO

Pizza My Heart (2005) free on ABC Family

Modern update of Romeo and Juliet where the star-crossed lovers come from families that own competing pizza parlors in Verona, NJ. Turns out this wasn’t a Christmas movie, but we kept watching anyway because we love pizza.

Recommendation: TASTY

This is probably the most personal and sincere comic I’ve ever drawn.

The San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge from Yerba Buena Island in 1936.Photograph by the California State Department of Public Works