Obama's got balls

I watched Obama's speech because my friend told me his grandfather, a Hillary supporter, decided to change his vote to Obama upon hearing the thing. I was pleased. Obama avoided convulsive political rhetoric and starkly addressed American race relations. There is resentment amongst blacks, whites and all minorities, he said, and though the resentment is rarely as visible in the public sphere as it once was, it remains a commanding issue in American society and politics.

Took some balls to do that.

The speech was on my mind when I visited my parents for the Easter holiday. I asked them what they thought of it, and was disappointed to find neither had seen Obama speak. I was surprised to realize the contrast between and my parents and I's political engagement. They vote, yes, but don't watch the news channels and take a stance on every issue that develops in politics. They know the major stuff but don't pay attention to the little things that I find important.

But I just figured out why this is--I'm a political cartoonist, dummy. [slaps forehead]

Done-skey

This here is the last Nut Butter. I'm quitting the comic strip gig so I can do more stuff, like draw better editorial toons, illustrate and self-publish comics books, animate and build websites. It's bad timing, though, because a recent set of letters published in the Diamondback angrily called for me to "get the hell off my features page" as one girl put it. I've been doing this business for two years now and my work was reflecting a growing disinterest in the comic strip--I was getting lazy and too comfortable with it. It was more like a job I'd half-ass than a fun activity anymore, so things were getting crappy.

However, I noticed this before the recent letters to the editor, so I don't want anyone thinking that I quit because of their rhetoric. I've been gearing to quit for about three weeks now, and was waiting for the Diamondback's editor in chief to find me a replacement. This ain't an excuse for crappy comics, just an explanation, because I don't want any of the "I know what I'm talking about, I'll write a letter to the editor" people getting uppity.

Spitzer Swallows

My friend Melissa came up with the wonderful "Spitzer Swallows" headline. I must also credit Carrie for coming up with it separately but at a slightly later date. It may not accurately convey the news value of the Spitzer prostitute controversy, but it is funny as hell. Anyway, seeing all the press conferences of the governor apologizing and later resigning, I've found the funniest part of the whole debacle is the man's teary-eyed wife, always at his side. The two Harvard Law graduates rode the political ladder together and now it's all come toppling down over some high-end hookers. The man has some taste in women. A smart lass for a wife and some expensive pussy on the side. It worked out for awhile, sir, just too bad you got caught. He'll be shamed publicly for some time, and will never make it in elected office again, but he's got his cash and can retire comfortably. Rough when your life rides on your ego like that. You can lose it so fast. Bummer dude.

Art students.

An art student girl wrote a letter to the editor today in the Diamondback. She said my cartoon, Nut Butter, sucks. She can say what she wants about the jokes being poor, but when she attacks the art, saying "his comics are poorly drawn," that boils the blood. My experiences with the art students here at the University of Maryland is that most of them are full of art theory bullshit and don't cut it when they bring pencil to paper. So here's my stab at giving a miserable art girl what's coming.




And a note to add, this Laura Cooke character has long-time beef with the Diamondback cartoons, as documented by her comments in the "Fuck the Diamondback" facebook group. Her sole contribution to the group's message board, which largely lambasts the paper for poor reporting and sensationalism, was this:

Laura Cooke wrote
at 9:21am on December 14th, 2007
You guys forgot to mention the revolting monstrosity that are the comics.

Way to go Laura, you've had your say, now here's mine: College won't last forever, and soon you won't be paying the salary of tenured art professors who give you encouraging remarks about your mediocre paintings. Enjoy your fake little world, it will be over soon.

Boy Monster

This is something I've been meaning to post for a long time, but only recently managed to combine the resources to make it possible. These are three 18x24in drawings I made for my drawing class final project last semester. The project presented an opportunity to experiment with a story idea i've been toying with for a while. I call it "boy monster," a feral child story about a boy, who when lost by his parents to a mountain rift, becomes the adopted child of a gang of monsters. he goes about life as amonster, scaring children and feasting on their fear, but never really fits in, etc... I havn't figured it out too far. Anyhow, enjoy the image at least.

Bush Vetoes Waterboarding

To be true, I don't care that America waterboards prisoners. Lots of bad things happen to folks--being made to think you're drowning seems tame compared to an electric shock to the balls.

The bit that irks me is George's justification for the practice. He pulls the "protects American lives" card to get out of anything terrorist-related. It's irksome because it works. People eat that shit up like french fries, because when he says it, people think "I am American, a superior form of human being."

Being THE world power for over half a century has certainly gotten to our heads. Look at all the people who get upset when instructions for their iPods come in more languages than English and grumble disapprovement when they hear "Dos para Espanol" from a computerized telephone recording.

Learn a foreign language, we won't be on top of the world forever.

Fight.

I was punched three times in the face last night during a brawl that broke out in my basement. Some Fella made fun of another fella's jacket and he got mad. The jacket was a replica of Michael Jackson's Thriller music video garb. Easily one of the most recognizable pieces of apparel to come out of the 1980s.

The basement dance floor was packed with girls coping with self-image issues and dudes shouldering up, intending to get laid. For most of these guys I imagine the evening's ultimatum was get laid or be an asshole. Apparently the girls weren't putting out.

So everything's dancing when ThrillerJacket "gets involved" with a tall guido. In a flurry of red leather and spiked hair they fell onto the dance floor. Every dude in the room, responding to basic animal instinct, immediately joined the fight.

Being in the room at the time, I felt the same instinctive rush and soon found myself in the midst of things. I joined the scuffle as a peace-keeper and threw no punches, but reflecting on a particular moment, whenst I threw one dude against the wall and pinned his hands down, I think I should have hit him. Because two second later some other fella clocks me on the left side of the face. That was exhilarating. Not because I have some odd fetish for pain, but because it didn't faze me. I just went on and pushed the dude. I got punched two more times in the rough of things, but never saw the guy what did it. Seems like all the punches were thrown by "pussies" who seized the opportunity to blindside a dude who wasn't hurting anybody.

Maybe I should have hurt somebody. I may be blowing smoke up the old ass when I say this, but I was stronger than the dudes I was tying up with. I could feel it. I took three punches to the face and I was still in control. What would have happened if I'd let loose?

I'm picking this topic apart because I have never punched someone with the intent to cause harm. I've never had the situation where I felt justified giving out pain. So I'm curious. I'd like to see how effective a pain-giver I can be.

There's a reasonable way to go about doing this, like competing with the campus boxing team or joining fight club, but I don't have that kind of time.

However, I've been noticing an increase of events in my life that lend themselves to fighting. I put myself in more situations where tempers run loosely and I'm being an asshole.

Could be interesting to see what happens.

I'll keep you folks posted.

I'm going crazy

It's five in the morning now. When I got home from work at the Diamondback at 1am I was struck with the stupid desire to "be productive." So, I set about doing that. One painting, a comic strip, a bunch of emails, two energy drinks and several cigarettes later, I'm sitting in my cold basement listening to RX Bandits, posting to this blog and trying to figure out how I'm going to get a canvas stretched for my 9am painting class.

It sucks.

I've lost all motivation to sleep and my hands are cold. What the hell kind of way is this to act? I pose the question to you, you "blog readers" because I do not know the answer.

Anyhow, it is now my goal to make this blog worth a damn. In keeping with that goal, I've resolved to post regularly about things less cartoon-related and more Mike O'Brien-related. My reasoning--I think a lot. And I keep most of those thoughts to myself. Fuck that. Now, those thoughts are going on the internet. You can expect to hear a lot more from Mike O'Brien.

I hope you like this shit.

Oh yeah, I'm quitting my comic strip at the Diamondback. No more Nut Butter. That shit is done. Now, I'll be working on things a little more...creative. Like animations. I haven't made one of those in a long time. You people deserve better. The idea I have is to make some animated comedy shorts. I've got the resources to do it, and plenty of funny people around me, so why not kick into gear and make something? You'd like that. I'd like that.

I'm carrying on, but I don't care. I found some gloves so these hands will keep on typing.

Moving on, I've come across a thought to share. It's about comparing yourself to people who are better than you. I can't help doing it. It makes me unhappy. I am a cocky guy, going around thinking I'm the shit because I draw cartoons for the Diamondback and do well in my art classes. But the only reason I feel so good is because I've put myself into a context where I can easily excel. The art department at the University of Maryland is not competitive. People don't come to Maryland to study art, they go to art school.

And I draw cartoons for the Diamondback. That's cool, but nobody cares. My job is a joke, in a very literal sense. There are people working at the Diamondback who do things that are tangible and important. They report the news. That's important. People need that information. Laughing is a luxury.

Then you have people telling me that I'm going to be famous some day because I draw cartoons. Don't do that! It sends me into a ridiculous guilt trip because I start to think that what I do really is relevant. Then I go to work at the Diamondback and I see these people working their asses off to report the news without anyone telling them they're going to be famous one day. It's a humbling experience to see people work at something where the possibility of glorification is slim. I can do a shitty job at my cartoons and people will still give me a pat on the back. If these reporters and editors get a story wrong, they get yelled at by angry people.

I've come to the point in my blog post where it's crazy to think anyone is still reading my shit. So I'll throw in a couple expletives and end it.

Fuck shit cock.