Archive for July, 2008
14 items.
Special thanks to Robbie Richardson for the idea to use this quote. I had discounted it, then was reminded that it`s got good context. Thanks a bunch, man! Really made me think (see below).
(The full text of this letter can be found at
http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/96oct/obrien/blood.htm
We will return to the lobster saga soon. Probably next update, in fact. I have to say, though, I`ve really enjoyed these past two strips. The caricatures, reading classic American literature…It`s great.
On May 4th, 1970, a group of riotous protesting students, ill-trained National Guardsmen and three days of tension resulted in bloodshed. On the grounds of Kent State University, four students lay dead and several others wounded, some of whom were reportedly not even part of the protest. This sparked nationwide strife, brought many major higher education institutions to a halt and was a keystone event leading to proper training in appropriate violence of action, among many other things.
But honestly? I remember being a student. There`s a lot of naive beliefs young people hold. There`s a lot of bravado, boldness. Many of these protesters, I`d bet, were nowhere near as well informed as they thought they were. I`d wager money on it.
And that`s exactly why they should hold the title of patriots, at least according to Thomas Jefferson.
When Thomas Jefferson wrote this letter, the Boston Tea Party was a pretty big thing. A bunch of young (and older) rabble-rousers, not really understanding the full scope of events, not really considering the repercussions of their actions, staged an open revolt against unrepresented taxation. Keep in mind, this event was the culmination of attacks on traders and warehouses — An angry populous acting out.
Thomas Jefferson said basically two things about this event in his letter: Its motives were founded in ignorance, not wickedness, and if the perpetrators had done nothing, it would herald the death of public liberty. He compares liberty to a tree which must occasionally be fertilized, “…with the blood of patriots & tyrants,” and says, “God forbid we should ever be 20 years without such a rebellion.” The idea is not to rebel, but to set the rebels right, “as to facts, pardon & pacify them.”
The Tree of Liberty was watered on May 4th, 1970, with the blood of people I`m sure never intended to go out and get shot that day, and it was a tragedy. Thomas Jefferson, though, would say, “What signify a few lives lost in a century or two,” undoubtedly considering the alternative being liberty lost. It`s a sobering thought, and a scary one. If 20 years is the rough guideline, are we lethargic or just severely overdue?
I wonder all this as I sit on my couch, typing up my thoughts and sketching out future strips. Clearly I`ve taken up arms and marched on to set things right, I say sarcastically.
For whatever reason, airport strips are my favorite. I like Special Agent Johnson, I like the main character always getting arrested because his seemingly innocent mind wanderings turn into huge social upheavals…So just accept it, okay? Sweet.
We`re all familiar with the famous Benjamin Franklin quote. Apparently, he used it often. I am familiar with it being used in his memoirs. I don`t know if it`s his earliest use, and I won`t claim it is, but perhaps someone can point me in the right direction.
In his memoirs, he speaks specifically about the Boston Tea Party, and proposes (among other things) that Boston should make good on the tea destroyed, but that England should open the port of Boston to trade again and repeal the tea-duty act. Mr. Franklin also calls for all trade duties on the colonies to benefit the colonies.
Why would he ask for all trade duties to benefit the colonies if he earlier asks for duties to be repealed? In his memoirs, he remarks (in summary form) the quote above. Basically, he says that though he thinks the duties are wrong, they won`t be repealed. This is along the lines of the more radical “No Taxation without Representation!” rally we all probably remember from grade school. He is asking that, if duties must be collected, they at least benefit the colonies.
He doesn`t stop there, however — He continues to say that if a, “thorough and hearty reconciliation is wished … strict justice [must] be done”. To that end, Boston should repay for the tea and England should make good on its damages by opening and repairing the port of Boston and repealing all duties.
Then, he calls on Massachusetts to, “suffer all the hazards and mischiefs of war, rather than admit the alteration of their charters and laws by parliament,” closing with his famous words above.
Every time I stand in an airport, and see masses of people afraid of carrying anything suspicious-looking, afraid of acting “weird”, afraid of joking or even speaking their mind, all I can think is that we as a people have compromised with our own government for the sake of preventing those present bloodsheds and mischiefs of war. I don`t know what a thorough and hearty reconciliation would be in our case, but sometimes I feel like we the people are replacing an overseas, physically distant sovereignty with a socioeconomically distant sovereignty in our own capital. Instead, we should accept the consequences and seek a long-term solution.
But don`t trust me. Read for yourself. I`m probably way off base anyway. What do I know, right? I`m a cartoonist.
All will be addressed in the next few weeks, but don`t worry…I`m not writing the lobster out. I know that`s been a big concern.
I`ve been out in Seattle and Colorado on business for the past nearly two weeks…That means, since I`ve been on time with the past six strips, that I actually had them all done AHEAD of time! Now I`m back to day-of work, but I hope to get ahead by a few weeks over the next month again, as that was great. Of course, with all that travel, we`re going to get another airport strip. Or two.
With apologies to the late Robert Frost.
This story has come to mean a lot to me. It is just an analogy for every ex-girlfriend and, even more broadly, every major life choice: Do I take this job, do I move to that city, do I look for some other option? Clearly the lobsters are not together (Apparently they don`t mate for life…It`s true! Ask the unassailable Wikipedia!). They took different paths, and are now different lobsters.
Over this past week, though, I`ve really come to see just how divergent they really are. They were together, but now their separation is no mere break-up: It`s a whole life experience. We all have different job skills, different hobbies, different friends becuase of our choices, and we can never be the people that we were, or the people we imagined ourselves being under different circumstances.
But you know what? We are the people we are now, and we can choose which road to take from here on out. We`ll probably never get the same choices again, but we do get to choose.
And that has made all the difference.
This is just one I wanted to do…How do you give the age-old chicken joke a new spin? Well, better than this if you`re a better artist, but I work with the tools I have. I really like this one.
I just aged 50 years by using a bridge joke. Seriously, it couldn`t have been Rock Band?
Notice I`ve been playing around with the backgrounds? I like it better than the gradient fill for panels where I`m not trying to indicate any depth. It`s not visually engaging but it helps frame the action and lead the eyes to the characters.
I just had fun drawing this guy. That`s pretty much all this comic is.
Fun fact…In my original concept layout for these strips, the name of his ex was Jezebel. I ended up going with Eve, short for evil, because I imagine her as a one-dimensional character we won`t see too often. It could have been influenced by Wall-E, but honestly, Eve was far more original than Jezebel…I was going to call her Jessie for short, which is straight out of Caves of Steel (1st book in Asimov`s Robot series). Better some originality than none…And I like Eve better.
