Hey WTF??!! FLINT COMIX!!

Sorry I haven't been blogging folks, I've just been SUPERbusy working on the FLINT COMIX paper and I've been neglecting Spank altogether. I promise he'll be back soon in one form or another, In fact I've already been offered a regular spot in a newspaper, so it might only be a month or 2 before there's new SPANKage.

ABOUT FLINT COMIX

I'm laying low in the comic market for at least the next few months while I MAKE SURE this baby turns out as hot as it looks like it's going. I'm not even offering or sending any copies outside the county lines for another couple of weeks (except for those few places outside the county lines where we place copies in stores and outlets. IF you are still reading this blog (and THANKS for even looking here after almost an entire MONTH of not posting), I can tell you these small points:

* I started a local newspaper that's almost all comics and local entertainment based. Advertiser supported, FREE to readers, with comic stories, comic strips, single gag cartoons, editorial cartoons, FLASH GORDON, and a few other text pieces ("Tales of The Weird" and "Strange But True"), as well as an article on the comic book art exhibits at our local Institute Of Arts.

* We printed a mock-up of four pages to show advertisers and was met with mostly blank looks from business owners who could not wrap their heads around what I wanted to do.

* I had a rough time (at least a rougher time than I ever thought I would have) talking to national syndicators about what I wanted to do.

* I got enough material (actually MORE than enough material) to make an edition, BARELY enough advertisers (I had a big number of folks say they were advertising until it came time to pony up the money- then about 80% of them backed out for one reason or another).

* In the process I had to "promise" a business owner or five that Spank would NOT be in it- so Spank is NOT in it and our content had to be softened down to a high PG rating.


* All this inside the county that FLINT MICHIGAN is in. Michigan has the highest unemployment rate, and our county has the super highest unemployment rate in the state, so that literally makes us the hell-hole of unemployment and devastation in the country.

BUT...

* We lined up a couple of big corporate sponsors to multi-issue contracts (THANKS Little Caesar's!) and it gave us more than enough to print.

* The paper is 24 tabloid newspaper sized pages, 8 of them are in color with the rest being in black and white (actually I "desaturated" some of the color strips offered to me to break up any kind of "coloring book" effect printing in black and white might have), mostly on 35 pound newsprint.

* We printed 10,000 (that's EASILY 3 TIMES more than any Arrow Comic has been printed in the last 15 years!) and distributed then LOCALLY, most within the county. We're still distributing them to the farthest reaches of the county.

* Get this- there's places that we left copies at that ran out of copies WITHIN HOURS of us dropping them off. Now I'm dropping off no less than 25 copies no matter where we go. We have three drop off points that have moved through nearly 200 copies EACH.

* We've almost passed 200 drop off points and we'll be gaining more for the next week or so, all while trying to keep some of our busier places properly stocked. I'm hoping for 300+ drop off points before the first of the month.

* "Where are we dropping these papers off at?" you ask. Nearly everywhere; obviously the comic shops and coffee shops, but also all the restaurants (Mexican restaurants seem to move through our product with alarming speed- the closest one to my house has probably moved 50 copies by now -I'm checking them tomorrow.), convenience stores, doctors offices, auto repair shops, even grocery stores (our local Krogers around here are all closing on moving 100 copies each for us). I've only been turned down by 3 businesses where I offered to leave copies- 2 because they said their corporate offices have policies against putting out free publications, and one because the owner was probably too old to read comics, let alone enjoy them.

* No one has voiced one negative opinion of the paper once they hold it in their hands. I did have one comics professional tell me "Print is dead" when I told him what I was doing, but honestly the way this seems to be going I think he'll be out of a job long before I am.

* Since we started distributing I've been bombarded by folks offering me material to print, local cartoonists and writers just looking for exposure and to be in on any part of this fun that they can.

AND FINALLY..,

* I'm having a BLAST doing this. Pasting up pages, handling it in print, even talking to people and the (GASP) media who want to know if we are insane or not by starting a newspaper in the area where our local daily newspaper just announced that they are cutting from 7 days printing to 3 (don't get me started on how stupid I think THAT move is- just read my posts on Circuit City to understand why).



* I'm printing Flash Gordon for the first time EVER in the mid Michigan area that I know of.

* Now here's the REAL point to all this; I'm doing a product of COMICS, that is being WIDELY accepted by a MASS audience of mostly non-comic readers, MOST of whom have never walked inside a comic shop before and know comics mostly from newspapers and movies, AND THEY ARE LOVING IT!!! I am widening the acceptance of comics in my area, and if all goes well for the next issue or two I should be making a nice bit of profit doing it.

All this at a time when Diamond Comics Distributors have announced employee cuts, new restrictions and limitations on books they distribute to a limited and ever shrinking comic market they couldn't expand if they distributed material from seven of the top ten movie blockbusters of the last decade (which they do).

This COULD turn out to be something. This COULD be big. Was all the lost hours pasting up and distributing worth it? I'm not sure yet, but it sure has been satisfying knowing folks are picking up stuff I've done (I included a Fool story, an original Miss Chevious story, and a recolored and pasted up page of the Golden Age version of Spark- a Flint based electrical hero- in this issue), supported by advertisers who are SUPER satisfied (at least so far) about what we've done, and it looks like next issue will contain twice as many advertisers (we're looking at perhaps going to 32 pages, or PERHAPS even twice a month) especially if this level of reception keeps up and advertisers pony up more money this time.


We have the next issue scheduled for release at the end of April, just to give us a few extra days to finalize our distribution lists, get more advertisers on board, and wade through some of the submissions we've received.

I'll keep YOU posted, But ONLY YOU for now. I'm not going to start screaming about this to the comic media until I KNOW for sure it's something big and not just a "flash in the pan".

So far so good.

Thanks for being here.

WAKE UP!

MICKEY!!!

In case you missed it, here's Mickey Rourke accepting his 2009 Spirit award for The Wrestler. I have not seen this film yet, but I will now. His remarks about Marisa Tomie and Eric Roberts are totally priceless and whips ass over anything from this year's academy awards. Enjoy!

MY HERO: TOM LEYKIS

Yesterday radio station 97.1 (free talk) FM in Los Angeles California changed it's "hot talk" format to a sad, top 40 music with little or no commercials. Format changes in radio stations happen all the time, but unfortunately this change also threw one of my personal heroes, Tom Leykis, off the air.

I had heard Tom many, many years ago when he was syndicated here in the Flint area, and liked what I heard then. When I was fortunate enough to make something of a living working in my basement in front of my computer (for the most part), one of the first podcasts I added to my "favorites" was the archive page from 97.1 and the Tom Leykis Show.


Tom is (or at the moment at least, "was") a very unique performer in that he spoke his own mind and tried his damndest to share those thoughts and guide others with his wisdom, which made for VERY unique and entertaining radio. Mostly non-political, mostly relationship related, though he was airing some financial topics lately and other newsworthy subjects as they came up in the media, Tom was always worth listening to, even if you didn't agree with his point of view. Me, I agreed with him 99.5% of the time, but I totally understood where he was forming his opinions ALL of the time, and that makes him an extremely rare form of entertainer.

Below I have included a documentary about Tom and his program that was posted on Google Video last year. It does a much better job of explaining Tom, his audience, his objectives, and his impact upon society than I could ever hope to cover. It is a bit of a watch (45 minutes long), but well worth your time to do so:



The most recent version of the 97.1 Tom archive is still up and available for anyone who can find it to listen to. Like I mentioned above there is VERY little of it that most anyone of the same mindset as me would NOT find interesting. I recommend a quick bookmark and some listening for at least as long as the 97.1 folks leave the page up- believe me you will thank me for turning you on to Tom if you don't know of him by now, even if you HATE everything he stands for. His genius IQ against most any of his callers is amazing to say the least:

http://www.971freefm.com/pages/4096.php

Like I mentioned, I'm not sure how long that page shall remain up, so if you like what you hear, I suggest some quick downloading.

I'm sure that this is not the last we've heard from my hero, Tom Leykis. He'll be back in whatever form he chooses to spread his point of view; a book is said to be in the offering, and it would not surprise me if he lands another syndication gig VERY quickly, especially given the durability of other radio hosts like Don Imus. In the meantime Tom is being paid to finish out his contract with CBS for I believe the next three or four years, by doing nothing but enjoying his 20 acres in California wine country.


So in closing, here's a toast to Tom, Thanks pal for the literally thousands of hours of entertainment that you gave this artist-monkey listening to your west coast rantings and philosophy. If you never return to the air again rest assured that you touched many lives, influenced many a young mind, and actually helped some of us grow up a little, no matter what age we were. Salute!



Wake Up!

Atlantis Found (?)

According to The Sun via Google Ocean, apparently someone noticed the markings of an ancient city buried on the ocean floor a ways off the coast of Africa, right about where Plato mentioned Atlantis was supposed to be. Yu can see photos and read about it here:

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article2255989.ece

Of course, considering The Sun's track record with hyperbole, it could very well be a hoax.

You make the call.

Wake Up.

TODAY'S WORD IS: "TWINCEST"

After reading the headline perhaps I should give you a moment to let your mind wander, but yes, "twincest" means exactly what you think, and according to today's New York Post you can get into deep shit for inciting it. Here's the the addy, or just click on the headline for a direct link to the NYP:

http://www.nypost.com/seven/02122009/news/regionalnews/twincest_slap_154757.htm

This is an example of stripping actually becoming demeaning to women, brought about by a lousy dog of a human being who frankly deserves every bit of legal hell I am sure that society will be trying hard to thrust upon him. Of course the women were perFectly within their rights to say "no" but what repercussions saying "no" that would follow, given the seemingly doggish behavior of the offender, would probably have been what you would expect. Self esteem is a bitch if you don't have it. No body should be "forced" to perform any kind of sexual act upon another, simple as that. Remember it's not really an offense if both parties were willing and were not physically hurt beyond their safe word.

WAKE UP!

JUST SO YOU KNOW...

In my constant quest to keep you informed of those little corporate shell game shuffles, I must now inform you that the BK "Joe" coffee now comes in three nearly confusing sizes. Get this:

The LARGE is what USED to be their EXTRA LARGE.

The MEDIUM is now called the SMALL.

And what was once their SMALL is now their VALUE size.

Three gulps, perhaps five total shots- yeah baby, that's "VALUE" for you.

Just So You Know

Wake Up!

Voices from the CC Trenches

Here's an addy to a very interesting article from Gizmodo.com of some first hand accounts of what it's like being a Circuit City grunt right now. It is very good reading and a true statement to not only our economic times, but also of the human condition. Enjoy:

http://i.gizmodo.com/5146694/their-final-words-as-the-grunts-of-circuit-city

Remember with the way things are right now your last day at work my be sooner than you think. Hang In There.

WAKE UP!

THE NAVEL AS A SEX ORGAN?

How cute does your mate's navel have to be to make them attractive? Apparently according to scientists it DOES matter and has mattered throughout many cultures. You can read all about that here:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28934310/

I especially liked that last paragraph: "However, Sinkkonen assured, "If you have an umbilicus that you think is ugly, it does not necessarily mean that your genetics is bad.""

Remind me to tell you about my exwife sometime.

WAKE UP!

TELEMARKETERS: Just Say NO!!!

From Florida News 4 (via Fark.com)comes this startling revelation that telemarketers not only harass you, but if they're calling you on behalf of a charity or some other noble cause the telemarketing company usually keeps up to 90% of the money they generate.

http://www.news4jax.com/news/18615210/detail.html

Folks, if you have to give to a charity, and I DO recommend you be charitable whenever possible, do your research and try to make sure you're not helping to pay some charity exec's $130,000 salary or year end bonus. Plus, if it's a telemarketer, just say no out of principal remembering that the BEST charity is helping your FELLOW man (as locally as possible)and not some jerk from a phone bank from who the hell knows where.

Finally, it should go without saying that if anyone telemarketer, corporate phone bank, or especially collection service calls and harasses you about giving them your account number over the phone don't just say "no", but say "Fuck No!"- then either handle it by a check in the mail, or pay the bill as locally as possible. Lately "collectors" have been known to not only take the amount due them from your account, but to do so a number of times.

WAKE UP!

BILL HICKS ON LETTERMAN 01/30/09

It's rare for most media folks to admit they've made a mistake, especially an old one, unless they are literally shamed into doing it. Back in 1993, just 5 months before his death a hero of mine, Bill Hicks, did a routine (his 11th and by far his most dangerous)on Late Night with David Letterman that was so edgy that Dave and his producers notoriously yanked the spot from being aired at the last minute. Last night Letterman admitted his mistake, apologized a number of times, even though the decision was 15 years old, and even had Hick's mom on and ran the spot, which though Dave warned it would be dated, is just as edgy as when first performed back in 1993.

Here via YouTube and CBS' Late Night With David Letterman is the set up for that appearance:



After a commercial break Dave brought out Bill Hicks' mom and well...see for yourself:



The "heartache" Dave mentions early on is the fact that yanking that spot from airing changed (again) Bill Hicks' career making him even more edgier and bitter, most times incorporating the performed routine as part of his act and pointing out the hypocracy inherent in the broadcast media. In 1993 Hicks was breaking wide and performing to packed houses in most every place he performed OUTSIDE of the US, doing a kind of ranting performance against corporate society and thinking. A large number of his nightclub performances from this point on were recorded or filmed and Bill became one of the most notorious comics of his time with a huge reputation in the underground circuits. Here, again from last night's Late Night via YouTube, is Bill's routine that he did in 1993 on Letterman:



This routine was refined and ran past the censors before Bill even walked on stage, still watching it, and knowing the fickle state of the media it's not too hard to imagine why Dave pulled the spot.

Bill Hicks is one of my heroes and an example of a true genius pioneer. Looking at his routine now it might be hard to see why. Just know that the number of political satirists like Dennis Miller and Bill Mahr (the intelligent and secure ones anyway) will all attribute their career on Bill Hick's trailblazing, while other "comedians" like Dennis Leary might not admit it so quickly but made careers by ripping off entire segments of Bill Hick's act and claimed it as their own (Bill was talking about how great it was to smoke years before Leary's "No Cure For Cancer" performance that made him famous- in fact much (if not all) of Leary's static, manic, hyper performance is straight from Hick's nightclub act). Here, on Letterman he is obviously stiff and almost sedated compared to his uncensored expletive ridden riffs, especially the ones after this debacle.

It is a great statement to Letterman's character to have has last night's program and to humbly admit his fault and mistake on the matter. I hope it gives him the kudos he deserves for doing it, as well as some sort of closure to a decision that has obviously haunted him sine he did it. Surprisingly there was no mention of Bill's recordings and the memorials and biopix that are in the planning stages to commemorate his life, and it's also a testament to Dave and his producers for allowing this footage out, playing it in it's crisp and original form, and to have the balls to have his mother out to apologize to her on air for the emotional stress and anxiety that pulling Bill's appearance caused him in his last days of his life. In his routine, where Bill admits that he started smoking again, he was already diagnosed as past the point of treatment on his cancer, and in true Bill Hicks style he decided that he was going to enjoy as much of his life in his last days that he could, and that included his nicotine addiction.

I was introduced to Bill Hicks a few years ago by a friend of mine who said that Spank reminded him of Bill, I can certainly see why. For more information on Bill and his career I recommend the biography AMERICAN SCREAM by Cynthia True. It is available on Amazon here: http://www.amazon.com/American-Scream-Bill-Hicks-Story/dp/0330438069/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1233411566&sr=1-1 and is well worth the price. Though Amazon is only offering the book as used at present I'm sure that a new printing will be done shortly.

For more video on Bill Hicks, including a number of rants about being pulled from Late Night check out YouTube under Bill Hicks and see some of his genius for yourself.

WAKE UP.