Another Walt Whitman Moment ("I celebrate and sing myself" again)

Here is a link to an interview that the European cartoon site Toonpool asked me to do. It is part of a "Letters from" series spotlighting people from around the world who put up work on their enormous site. Previous interviews were done with artists from Finland, Barcelona, Berlin and Ecuador. And now, exotic Alaska! They asked me to choose a piece of art to go with the interview. After they rejected my suggestion they use "The Raft of the Medusa" on the grounds it was painted by Théodore Géricault, and not me, we went with the image that appears above.

Fast Away the Old Year Passes (But not fast enough)

Exhausted Appeal

Marksism

Uncommon Wisdom #35

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Art from "A native lad, Benny Benson Tells Alaska's Story" at The International Gallery of Contemporary Art

Pictures by Sarah Hurst from the opening reception for the showing of art from our graphic novel.


Real Alaskans, comfortable with the work of Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein, have no problem with comics as art.



Well-dressed for an evening on the town means that you stay warm while gallery hopping in December.



Holding the papparrazzi at bay is always a struggle

I Love the Smell of Brimstone in the Morning! Time to reset the Helldometer...UDATED!

(UPDATE: The votes are in and the result is clear: The situation remains urgent with Hell a mere mile away. The captain has asked us to don our fire suits and assume the crash position. The red lights lead to white lights and the white lights, I'm sorry to say, lead to Hell.)

Hello fellow handbasket passengers. The most recent election is past. The witch didn't make the cut, nor did our own Joe Miller. The GOP took the U.S. House, and made gains in the Senate. North Korea is feeling neglected and is off its Ritalin, shelling a South Korean island. The war in Afghanistan is wearing on. We've now been at it as long as the Soviet Union was, and yet the Taliban linger. Bristol Palin underlined again how polarizing the Palin brand has become. Using only the art form of dance, she sowed bitter divisions in the country over her progress on "Dancing with the Stars" And while her performance left no doubt that her dancing skills equaled her abstinence skills, they seemed to inspire the same loyalty in true believers. Patti Smith won a national book award and Bristol's mother didn't. In a development that was widely hailed as good news, Chevy Chase confirmed that Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead.

All of which means it's time to reset the Helldometer. You can contribute your sense of how dire the state of the World is by scrolling down the page and voting in the Helldometerpoll that appears on the right side of the page. Let your voice be heard above the roar of the flames. And remember Joe, you only get one vote.

Operation Overexposure

We seem to be having a holiday special clearance on the Peter D-S collection. Dec. 3 is the Opening for the show of art from the blockbuster Graphic Novel "A Native Lad, Benny Benson tells Alaska's Story. We'll have art from Lee Post, Evon Zerbetz, Lance Lekander, Duke Russell and more. I have multiple pieces to contribute. This show will hang at The International Gallery of Contemporary Art 427 D St. Dec, 4 Whiskey Jacks the band that I play mandolin and dobro for will play The Muckraker's Ball at the Snow Goose, from 7:00 'til 11:00. As if that weren't enough, the Anchorage Film Festival will screen my animated remembrance of the Great Alaska Earthquake, "Oblivion 1964" at Out North at 7:30. That about exhausts the subject, as well as your faithful correspondent. And then the holiday insanity starts in earnest.

Peace and balance,

Peter

Got my Mojo Workin' But It Just Don't Work On You

Screening Time for "Oblivion 1964" An Animated Memoir of the 1964 Alaska Earthquake

My animated look at the 1964 "Great Alaska Earthquake" and its aftermath is scheduled by the AIFF to screen at 7:30 PM Sat, Dec 11 at Out North Theater at the corner of Debarr and Bragaw. My flick screens with...

* MUSH: The Movie | Alex Stein 2010
* A Visitor’s Guide to Alaska’s Rules of the Road-Firearms | Bill Rome 2010
* Tour de Seward | Kristopher Peck 2010
* Native Time | Sean Morris 2009
* Filmmaker Q&A
If you don't want to brave the cold and hordes at the event, you can see the whole production right below, but won't it be more fun to be there at the big moment?

Miller Time

All in the Family

Any Questions?

Work in progress: "How Alaska Won the Cold War"

This clip is from a short film I'm working on about growing up in the Sixties and Seventies in the shadow of Nike Missile sites and Soviet Bear Bombers

You Have the Right to Remain Silent...

Full disclosure: I freelance regularly for Alaska Dispatch, know Tony Hopfinger, and welcome questions about my tawdry past as a longtime member of the private sector

Have you Hugged Your Generator Today?

The good people at the Renewable Energy Alaska Project contacted me to design an invitation to their 6th anniversary party. After several attempts at images that were contrived, over-thought and convoluted, I came up with this. The image of a husky on a treadmill is based on a visit years ago to Martin Buser's kennel where he had over-sized hamster wheels for his dogs to train on for the Iditarod. Truth is stranger than illustration.

One Lump, or Two?

24 hours: An artist looks at every time zone at once

Here is a time lapse photo record of the gallery opening of British artist Philip Lunn's piece "24 Hours". Philip constructed an installation of 24 computer screens, each connected to a person in one of the earth's 24 time zones. Gallery visitors could pick up a phone and talk to any of the 24 through Skype. I volunteered to hold down the Alaska spot. The screens were arranged to approximate geography with the far East being the extreme right and the far West on the extreme left. Alaska is second from far left, up high.

I had pleasant conversations with a number of visitors. There was a stool for them to stand on, but it was still difficult to see more than the tops of their heads. Philip hopes to reprise the piece in the future, I hope he'll have taller stools! This was Philip's thesis piece for his MFA. He was awarded the Dean's prize. For more about this work, go to Philip's Website and follow the 24 hours link. The film is ©2010 Philip Lunn.

One size fits all

"All Politics is Local". Fundraising, however...

Click to enlage

Poetry Cornered

Today's brief poem, "A Short Explanation of Why It Matters"

When the shit hits the fan
We all get a tan.

Flaming Idiot

Uncommon Wisdom #35

Taking Alaska Backward

Merge Far Right

Bozo census update: Here comes another one (click on cartoon to enlarge it)

Action! Adventure! Flaming Marshmallows of Doom!

Yes the good folks at LitSite have finally posted my shocking new film "My Six (known) Brushes With Death" Now playing worldwide exclusively at this address. Six brushes with death before reaching the age of 25! Was he marked for near tragedy, or merely careless? Or do we all live in a Universe of imminent danger where the least moment of inattention can lead to catastrophe, where blind luck sorts the fit from the failed with a thuggish brutality that mocks our frailty with an randomness so overwhelming it numbs the mind? All existential thriller, and at six minutes, no existential filler. Unrated. Imaginative, sensitive types may experience nightmares, and should view with discretion.

Uncommon Wisdom #34

Ted Stevens: The Prodigal Senator

Farewell to a great and vexing man. Click on pages to enlarge

First Customer

Lee Post

Sarah Hurst and Sean Jones

15 minutes to go, the book display

Techno Whiz plans to live blog book signing

Here's a bad idea: Think i'll do a 21st Century meets 16th Century
sort of time warp thing and bravely attempt to live blog the book
signing today at Boscos'. Really, what could go wrong? Well, for one,
if there is much action, I will be too busy to post. If there isn't
much action, I'll have plenty of time but nothing to say. But, nothing
ventured...so stay tuned for details as they happen. Or better yet
stop by Bosco's Dimond Mall today between 1:00 and 3:30 and meet the
team behind " A Native Lad, Benny Benson tells Alaska's story". and
while you are there pick up your own signed copy.

Standing by for writer's cramp, and hoping for rain, in Anchorage this
is Peter Dunlap-Shohl.

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http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/browse.cfm/DunlaP
http://frozengrin.blogspot.com/
http://offandonakpdrag.blogspot.com/

A Native Lad Book Release at Boscoe's

It is with horror that I realize I have been remiss in my duties as relentless self-promoter in failing to post the following:


HEYA, HEYA, HEYA, STEP RIGHT UP!...YOU! The gentleman in your pajamas with the two-day growth of beard, and YOU!... madam, YES... YOU with the lipstick on your teeth... The All-NEW, ALL-OLD, bareknuckle, blockbuster, boom'n'bust roller coaster graphic novel A NATIVE LAD, a history of our fair state celebrates its DEBUT with a signing party at the fabulous BOSCO'S Dimond location! That's right, on SATURDAY the 14th of August, author SARAH HURST and many of the illustrators behind this exciting collaboration will DANGLE FROM TENTERHOOKS, SHOOT OFF THEIR MOUTHS and most important SELL YOU THEIR BABY, Which they will be happy to sign in their own hand. That's BOSCO'S at Dimond, 1:00-3:3o Aug. 14. Thank you.

2 bars? Forget the call, fingerpaint instead!

Drawn with brushes app on the iPhone. (click to enlarge)

Congressman For All Eternity

Choose Your Weapon

Busker's Nightmare

Here's a personal project, a chance to draw some of the greats of the guitar, some well-known, some relatively obscure, (Any Sister Rosetta Tharpe fans out there?) This is a mix of a few personal faves (Richard Thompson, Gatemouth Brown) and some of the inevitable big names (Clapton, Jeff Beck, Frank Zappa) relegated here to mostly supporting roles.

Uncommon Wisdom #33

Uncommon Wisdom #32

6 Minutes, 6 Narrow Escapes

Here's a trailer for my second short for Litsite. It's the true story of my six known narrow escapes from death. (Note: These do not include innumerable bike trips through Anchorage traffic) We're in post production now, I hope to deliver it to Litsite soon!

A Blast From the Future (that takes place in the past)

Here is an exclusive glimpse from a forthcoming project, much of which is set in the 60's and 70's. (The guy on the far right? Abbie Hoffman. Unintentional humor.)

Taken Out by the Garbage

Bears are called "charismatic megafauna", big impressive animals people will come thousands of miles to see. But like many other celebrities they have a dark side. Most are reclusive shy types that just want, like Garbo, to be alone. Unfortunately some lose their natural fear of people and become addicted to human treats, like garbage. These animals are like big furry John Belushis with claws and a habit to feed. They invariably end up being shot when found raiding someone's chicken coop or, pathetically, eating someone's garbage. Like any celebrity who comes to a bad end, they will wind up on the front page, an embarrassment to their friends and family and an object lesson to the rest of us: Friends don't let friends eat garbage.

It's Offical: First Helldometer puts us 225 miles from Hell, Does Not Result in Action From the Carter Center

With 21 voters participating we have a clear sense that participants think things are indeed going to Hell, with 52% putting Hell an uncomfortable day's drive away at 225 miles and 4% at merely a mile off. Still a substantial minority saw things in a more optimistic light with 4% putting us 999 miles away, and 38% gave us a somewhat cheery 500 miles out, close enough to smell the brimstone but plenty of maneuvering room to change course.



This sample of opinion is totally unscientific with a self-selected survey population. It has big built-in flaws as well. For instance if you really believed we were a mile out from Hell, would you be farting around on the Web, or buying up all the bottled water, Spam and ammo you could find at the local big box? This means we probably missed a number of those who were too busy preparing for Armageddon to be bothered with our poll, no matter how important it seems to us. This of course skewed our sample a little toward the more optimistic side. Another objection is that the poll is too limited in offering only four possible responses. One disappointed reader refused to participate after finding 666 was not among the possible choices. We will attempt to address this in the next poll.

Thanks to all who participated despite the obvious flaws. Thanks also to the Carter Center for not sending Jimmy Carter in to clean our voting process up. We view this as validation of our recent election, flawed as it admittedly is. If it's good enough to pass muster at the Carter Center, it's good enough for us. We are not perfect but the staff here at Frozen Grin hopes that over time a picture of the popular sense will emerge as we re-sample opinion on this question.

Uncommon Wisdom #31

FORRRRRRRRRRRE!

Whennn Are We Gonna Get Therrrrrrrrrre?

It's a quiet and uneventful Sunday, the perfect time to debut a new Frozen Grin Feature: The Helldometer. (I'll pause for a minute so all you news-starved editors out there can remake your Monday front pages.) What is the Helldometer? Allow me to direct your attention to the right-hand column of this blog, where this sensitive and sophisticated instrument sits. For those of you who are too lazy to shift your eyes all that way, here is the essence of the idea:

Many Americans, from all points of the political spectrum, think things are going to Hell. Wall Street bailouts, massive oil spills, culture wars at home, actual wars abroad, shrillness in the media, and the acrimony that taints politics tend to confirm this view. But how close are we? Check the HELLDOMETER to find out!

Like the odometer in your car, the Helldometer measures miles, in this case the number of miles to Hell. As this is a purely gut-level idea of where we are, this number will be set by Frozen Grin readers who can vote for one of the distances in the poll below. 999 miles is the maximum distance possible, 1 mile means put on your fire suits and abandon ye all hope. This unscientific, yet darn interesting poll will be updated weekly. The Helldometer is presently blank pending the outcome of the first vote.

If you find a mere vote a disservice to your complex, multifaceted world view, please feel free to post your reasoning as a reply to this post. Don't miss your chance to take part in this historic first round of voting. The eyes of the World are upon us!

They Look Like Ants From Here

Alaska; Where Love is the Deadliest Catch

I just got word that my combat fishing video, "The Banks of the RollingKenai" is now posted exclusively at Litsite. Fish! Love! Tragedy! Who Could pass all that up? Click on over!

Uncommon Wisdom #30

"90% of life is just showing up"...Alaska Press Club Honors "Frozen Grin"

The Frozen Grin PR team would like you to know that cartoons from Frozen Grin and this blog itself garnered honors from the Alaska Press Club in its most recent annual competition. My cartoons took first place in the "Best Editorial Cartoon" category. The judge Jimmy Margulies, is a respected cartoonist for the Record in New Jersey. Margulies commented that "... poignant, funny and well drawn cartoons made his work the clear winner. I was particularly impressed that the cartoon with the two polar bears, in one drawing commented on both global warming in a way particularly germane to Alaska, as well as the floating trash island. He takes full advantage of using color to enhance his cartoons’ strong ideas."

"Frozen Grin" was picked as second in the "Best Blog" category. Judge Lena West made her remarks short and sweet "I liked Frozen Grin because the original art work is fabulous and I feel like I really understand this person's point of view. He also posts consistently." Posting consistently was a point she mentioned in all three of her comments on her favorites, adding more proof to Woody Allen's observation that "90% of life is just showing up". Which reminds me, thanks to all who have visited and commented on the blog, it was good of you to show up.

Soup of the day: Wild chicken and rice

Another iphone drawing, this one lightly modified in photoshop. Done in a restaurant and the car on the way to a gig after being told by waitress that today's soup was "Wild Chicken with Rice"