|
November,
2000
.....
BIG
PICTURE QUOTE OF THE MONTH:
"If you can't be content with what you have received,
be thankful for what you have escaped."
- Anonymous
.....
Hi
Everyone,
That time again
for yet another fine, fun-filled and entertaining monthly newsletter from
all of us fine folks (okay, a goofy guy and his dopey cat) at The Big Picture
North American Headquarters (okay, okay...a little cottage a half mile from
the beach, just south of Boston...details, details). Here it is for anyone
that give's a rat's patootie-
.....
CALIFORNIA
The trip to
California for booksignings and Clutch Grabwell gigs is officially ON.
I am SO looking
forward to getting out there and meeting everyone. The west coast readers
have been really supportive. And the band is SO looking forward to playing
out there. it's a great opportunity for us. Not only do we get to play for
a bunch of record company guys in suits (oh, boy...) but we're mostly looking
forward to playing the left coast for the first time.
Many MANY of
you have asked if Ginger will be at my book signings. I mean, sheesh, it's
MY comic strip! Must she get ALL the attention?? Anyway, she can't even
handle a stoopid 10 minute drive to the stoopid vet so case closed on the
5 hour plane ride, 'k? Many have also asked if Dawn is coming along. Hey,
she can't even handle a stoopid 10 minute drive to the stoopid vet so case
closed on the 5 hour plane ride, 'k? Just kidding. But, no, Dawn will not
be there and you'll all see why during the strips the week of Nov. 27 (suspenseful,
huh?).
Here's the
schedule, both for the book signings and Clutch gigs. Whether you buy a
dopey book of mine or not, I hope you'll come and visit at the bookstores.
And whether you like a high energy kick-ass rock band with an insane lead
singer and a demon posessed horn section or not, I hope you can make it
out to a performance or two. Y'know, to buy me a beer. Or two (that's a
hint. Hey, I can get your name in a stoopid comic strip...). Really, Clutch
Grabwell is AWESOME and you will NOT be disappointed that you made the trek
and I'd say that whether I was in it or not (yeah, right...)-
The band is
playing and hanging out in L.A. from Wed. Nov.29 to Sat. Dec. 2.
So far, two
gigs are confirmed and you can go to grabwell.com for updates as Jeff gathers
the info when the time draws near- Wed., Nov. 29 at the Coconut Teaser on
Sunset in L.A. and Thurs., Nov. 30 at the Fold on Sunset. Fri. and Sat.
are on the Strip as well (not exactly sure yet). All the gigs will start
around 11 p.m.
Saturday, Dec.
2nd, 4 p.m. is my first booksigning. It'll be at the Barnes and Noble in
Aliso Viejo (Orange County). Phone (949)362-8027 for more details. The next
day is the book signing in the San Jose area- Sunday, Dec. 3 at 4 p.m. at
the Barnes and Noble in Campbell at The Pruneyard. Phone (408)559-8101 for
more details.
From there,
who knows? I might like the lack of snow so much that I just have old Fuzzbucket
shipped out there and we spend the rest of our days happily ever after drawing
and soaking up the rays. It's damn cold in Boston right now. And getting
colder by the second. The band will have to stay there with me.
See you in
California...
.....
UCOMICS.COM
UComics.com
is now officially up and running and going strong. It's an incredible website
for comics (which, I'm happy to report, includes The Big Picture) and, trust
me, you won't be disappointed. It has a lot of great features. You simply
sign up with a password (it's all free) and among other things, you can
have the comics on that site e-mailed to you daily, including vintage Calvin
and Hobbes! Imagine waking up each morning greeted by the likes of Calvin,
Garfield,a Tom Tolles editorial toon (jeez, I LOVE that guy), The Boondocks,
The Duplex (awesome. awesome) and Yours Truly and all else on their very
awesome roster. Okay, not everyone wants to be greeted by Yours Truly every
morning ('cept maybe every super model on the planet, of course), especially
not before a strong cup o' joe, but you catch my drift. And the kicker?
The icing on the cartoon cake? They're all in living COLOR! Check it out.
It's brandy new and you're gonna love it. Don't mean to get so excited about
the dopey comics but, sheesh, it's a pretty sweet site.
.....
OHIO
The Big Picture
was picked up recently by The Chronicle Telegram in Elyria, Ohio. i don't
usually thank individual papers in this newsletter (just individuals) but
I wanted to give them special mention 'cause it's nice when a non "big
city" paper takes hold of The Big Picture. I have nothing AGAINST non
"big city" newspapers mind you but it is kind of rare that they
let go of their grasp of the um..."mainstream" sort of cookie
cutter comics (I ain't mentioning any names...)and give an autobiographical
strip about a bald, skinny, animal loving, middle-aged, divorced trombonist/
cartoonist/ artist/ ex-professor a fighting chance, know what I'm sayin'?
Plus they did a really kickin' interview with me (running the 13th of this
month, I think) which is ALWAYS appreciated mostly because the guy didn't
ask me the usual goofy ("is it really about you?", "does
that look like you?", "what do you eat for breakfast?") kinds
of questions. So thanks to them and theirs.
.....
CLUTCH GRABWELL
I got a letter
from Don in Australia (hey, I'm country name dropping here, okay? I was
impressed) asking me for more info on the band so here's the reminder- you
can go to grabwell.com and our c.d. can be purchased through cdbaby.com
(there are links to both of those at PlanetLennie.com).
A couple of
people have asked me which one I am in that band photo on the Clutch site
(in the words of Jessica from Nebraska, "Are we supposed to believe
you're actually in that band??"). I'm the guy on the right, in back
of the shopping cart, arms folded real cool and suave-like (re:dorky) with
the spankin' black beret on my melon. That shot was taken before my drastic
haircut/ goatee make-over (no, not on the Jenny Jones show) last year (see
strips around Nov./ Dec. '99). I look way different now, thank the Good
Lord All Mighty Above.
Speaking of
photos, there are new photos due to go up of Ginger AND me (I know, I know...just
Ginger is just fine with you) on the PlanetLennie site and the Universal
Press sites. Soon.
.....
SURREALISMS
My Fine Art
surrealisms are now posted at PlanetLennie.com. I FINALLY got around to
sending them off to Webmaster Lee for the posting and post he did. Please
take a chunk 'o time if you're so inclined and check them out. It's another
personality of mine. One of one hundred, as Dawn would say. I hope you enjoy
the work. You've been patient and thanks for your interest. There will soon
be a FAQ section in that part of the site which will attempt to sort of
explain what they are, where they come from, and what they mean without
trying to sound too much like a new age/crystal worshipping/ stone rubbing/
pyramid sitting mystic about it. It is a completely different drawing style
of mine and a COMPLETELY different Art world than the the Cartoon Boy thing
most of you know me from. Enjoy. Or not.
.....
GLEN IN
S.J.
Glen gave me
a good swift (but polite and gracious) kick in the butt about two weeks
back. i got dropped from the Sunday pages in San Jose about 3 or 4 months
ago. Long story short, the same thing happened when the Orange County Register
and The Houston Chronicle did a "test drop" of the strip which
is a newspaper's wacky way of seeing if the readers "miss" a comic
strip or not when they try to drop it. A "test drop". Imagine?
I mean, I would understand that concept in a RELATIONSHIP ("Really,
honey,I was just doing a test -drop when I disappeared last weekend"),
but for a precious COMIC STRIP?? So, now I'm back on the San Jose Sunday
pages because of the rallying done by lots of very supportive readers including
Glen. I sent some heartfelt "thank-you's" out with a mass e-mailing
but I missed a few folks due to my very basic monkey skills with the stoopid
computer. I'm singling out Glen here 'cause I remember him writing an especially
thoughtful and provoking letter to the powers that be at the Merc. He and
many others didn't receive my thanks via the mailing. So, thanks to all
of you that supported me back then and continue to do so...as always.
.....
Till next time,
Happy Thanksgiving! See you Californians reading this in a couple o' weeks...
Please continue to stay in touch all and, as always, thanks for the read...
|
