I have been informed by Ms. Kriota Willberg that the movie she and I made, The Bentfootes, starring our own James urbaniak, has won second place in the Narrative Feature category in Iowa City's Landlocked Film Festival! We were beat by The Flyboys, a brand new low-budge comedy starring Stephen Baldwin, a movie not to be confused with the 2006 James Franco WWI flying-ace vehicle Fly Boys. The creators of the second-place movie receive a multi-milliondollar prize and a big fat studio contract a t-shirt and certificate.

ITEM! It turns out I am a contributing artist to the first issue of Danny Hellman's new anthology series TYPHON. Master cartoonist R. Sikoryak turned a monologue from my 1989 play One Neck into a comic strip featuring a not-at-all-Droopy-Dog-like-character named Loopy. Mr. Sikoryak, who is also occasional commenter r_sikoryak, also did the splendid cover for the issue.

Typhon, for those not in the know, was a creature from Greek mythology, a terrible beast with a hundred heads who tried to take over the world by attacking Zeus. Obviously, Mr. Hellman is trying to make a point here about the nature of independent comics, a hundred-headed beast taking on "the man." Yeah! Go Typhon! Lay some boulders on that Zeus!

In the myth, of course, Zeus doesn't put up with that shit and drops Mt. Etna on Typhon's head. Which, in the real world, I'm guessing has something to do with Diamond Distributors. (Or maybe Ted Rall -- I don't know any more.)

Anyway, for those interested in buying a copy of this astonishing new volume, why not go to Jim Hanley's Universe, certainly the premier comics store in New York, and buy a copy from the creators themselves!

From an email forwarded to me from Mr. Sikoryak:

I am in New York City, finishing the editing of The Bentfootes.  My laptop made one too many trans-continental trips and has died, so blogging will be light for the next week.

HOWEVER

For those of you who happen to be in New York right now, I will be making a rare public ap presenting a chapter of my graphic-novel in progress

FEEDER BIRDS as part of
 
R. SIKORYAK's

CAROUSEL slide-show entertainment event thing.

The lovely and talented actors
JAMES URBANIAK and
NINA HELLMAN
will provide the voices of cartoon birds for the evening.

The big show happens on

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 7
(a date that will live in infamy)

 at
8pm

at

DIXON PLACE
258 BOWERY
on the island of Manhattan

Attendance is mandatory!

I thank you for your attention.