Frozen Grin

The Scream

2012-01-23T15:07:00.001-08:00

Caricature: Milton Glaser

2012-01-21T14:08:00.000-08:00

Intimidating, but irresistible. Done while watching a slightly-over-the-top-but-still-fascinating documentary about a man whose name rarely appears without the words "great American designer" lurking nearby.

The iPad overfloweth, Found Objects of the Semi Concious

2012-01-18T18:43:00.000-08:00

"Found Objects of the Semi Concious"? WTF? Simple, all these were done while watching TV. All drawn on the iPad with Sketchbook Pro.

The Elephant's Chid

Benedict Cumberbatch, from the newish BBC production of Sherlock Holmes

Done while watching gratuitous Violence on Netflix

Alien Gravity

The Graphic Memoir Project lives.

2012-01-12T13:59:00.000-08:00

Here is the newest page. I think I have maybe two more months to finish the draft MS.Click to enlarge

Holiday Lights

2011-12-24T10:00:00.001-08:00

Uncommon Wisdom #46

2011-12-15T11:02:00.000-08:00

"A World of Pain" John Goodman As Walter Sobchak in "The Big LeBowski"

2011-12-13T13:00:00.000-08:00

Goodman as Sobchak is irresistible material. This is my second go-round. Fingerpainted on the iPad with Sketchbook, dude.

2011 Slinks Into the Sunset

2011-12-13T10:12:00.001-08:00

CLICK TO ENLARGE

Pad Men: Jon Hamm as Don Draper iPad sketch

2011-11-28T11:27:00.001-08:00

Uncommon Wisdom #45

2011-11-25T09:52:00.000-08:00

Still Another Advance Look at the Parkinson's Comic Manuscript

2011-11-21T17:42:00.001-08:00

I'll be happy to take a few questions now. Yes ma'am? Yes, you in the funny hat... What the hell is this a picture of? It's an imagined dream to go with a bit about how people with Parkinson's Disease are different from healthy people in in how their bodies respond to dreams. Illustrating dreams are a wonderful opportunity to let your imagination have freedom to create something fun to draw and, I hope, to look at.

Triptych, London 1981

2011-11-17T11:12:00.001-08:00

Three portraits and a reminiscence mostly drawn on the iPad, collaged in Photoshop while watching/ignoring TV

Yet More Tributes Buried in "Mixed Cursing " Manuscript

2011-11-15T19:07:00.001-08:00

What can I say? I owe so much to so many. It's payback time. In this case it's R. Crumb, and Monty Python. Yes, I'm afraid Mr. Natural isn't boogieing, he's merely dyskinetic. And the Ministry of Silly Walks? Same story. So much to explain, so little time!

Screen Times and Locations for My Six (Close) Brushes With Death

2011-11-14T12:07:00.001-08:00

The Grim Reaper will stalk the Anchorage International Film Festival so relentlessly that Tony Sheppard is considering going to court for a TRO. That's right, the ANCFF plans SIX, count them SIX screenings of the harrowing autobiographical film about how I almost had no biography to auto. There is a festival-generated Schedule here or you could just look at the table below:3:15 Saturday, Dec 3, Out North Main TheaterMy Six (Known) Brushes With DeathPeter Dunlap-Shohl 2010Categories: Animation, SnowdanceRun time: 7 min. | USA/AKThe shocking true story of a young man's fragile existence. Starting at a very young age our hero faces death and hair-raising danger time and again. 12:00 PM Sun, Dec 04 Alaska Experience Theater - Large Theater As part of the Animation World-Wide program7:00 PM Tue, Dec 06 Alaska Out North Theatre - Gallery As part of the Animation World-Wide program 8:15 PM Thu, Dec 08 Out North Theatre - Main gallery As part of Snowdance Mixed Shorts 1 7:20 PM Fri, Dec 09 Alaska Experience Theater - Large Theater As part of the Animation worldwide program 6:00 PM Sat, Dec 10 Out North Theatre - Gallery As part of the Animation World-Wide programI will try to get to as many of the showings as possible, to answer questions and to prove I'm still alive in spite of everything.

Flaming Marshmallows of Doom to Grace Anchorage International Film Festival

2011-11-04T09:23:00.000-07:00

Once again, the gimlet-eyed judges of the Anchorage International Film Festival have suffered an inexplicable lapse of, well, judgement. That's right, they have picked another of my micro-epic blockbuster Studio Jupiter animated shorts (Studio Jupiter motto- We may waste your time, but not much of it.) as a selection for this year's festival. It's not clear if they actually like the work or fear some sort of dreadful reprisal from me if they don't take one of my offerings. Either way, I'm flattered. I haven't had word yet on when or where it screens in town. but you can see the whole thing right here. Warning: contains scenes of graphic violence that frankly, I find disturbing, especially as they happened to me.

2011-10-28T13:41:00.000-07:00

Drawn on the iPad using Sketchbook. Getting the witch to hold still while I drew her is not something I am eager to try again.

Graphic "Novel" Project update

2011-10-27T15:09:00.000-07:00

Yes, the book project lives. In fact in the case of this panel it took on a life of its own. I was working on the figure on the couch to project a stiffness that would say "Parkinson's rigidity" or "Rigid Personality" to go on a page about the so-called "Parkinson's Personality". Suddenly I realized that the character I had dawn looked much like Mr. Spock, as played by Leonard Nimoy in Star Trek. A tweak of the ears and eyebrows brought him that much more into focus. Suddenly Freud was analyzing Mr. Spock which is the kind of thing that amuses me no end. "Tell me about your father, Mr. Spock..."To top things off both Mr. Spock and Freud were/are heroes of my brother Dave. So is this an accidental homage to my younger brother or a Freudian Slip of the stylus? I hear my brother intoning "There is no free will" as I write this...

Uncommon Wisdom# 44

2011-10-26T14:35:00.000-07:00

Have you hugged an orc today?

2011-10-13T18:31:00.000-07:00

As Promised, a book update

2011-10-05T10:10:00.000-07:00

Rather than blowing off blogging while concentrating on the shiny new project of converting my other blog "Off and On" into a can't-miss graphic novel, I promised to update you guys on how the work was progressing. So here's a new page. I'm up to 16. Feedback, agent inquiries and publishers welcome.

Click on image to enlarge it.

Souvenirs of a recent trip

2011-10-02T21:47:00.000-07:00

A recent road trip through some of the most spectacular country in the South 48 yielded the following drawings rendered on the iPad while Pam drove.

And if you are craving a glimpse of what the view was like from the passenger seat...

Cross-Post From Off and On, The Alaska Parinson's Rag- A sneak Peek at a New Project

2011-09-04T18:14:00.000-07:00

Drawings ©2011, Peter Dunlap-Shohl, Click to enlarge

For years people have been prodding me with the question "Why not turn your Parkinson's Disease blog into a book?" I usually counter-prod with the question "Do we really need another book on Parkinson's Disease?" Then several months ago I ran into two friends, Scott and Julia. Scott is a great fan of graphic novels, which is a highfalutin' term for fancy comic books. We were chatting about "LOGICOMIX" which is,among other things, a comics biography of Bertrand Russell we both read and enjoyed. "You have enough in your blog to turn it into a graphic novel", Julia suggested. I told her I didn't think so. The blog doesn't really amount to a narrative, the drawings aren't connected enough. The whole thing seems like a fragmented, episodic series of observations. Not enough graphic or novel. Or maybe I'm just lazy.

Later I was talking to my friend Steve. Again the dreaded book subject came up. I raised the usual objections. But he may have given me a way to focus that will work. "You treat Parkinson's Disease like an adventure", He said. Hmmmmm. With a massive, Herculean effort, a guy might be able to make that work. I've got about eleven pages so far. They appear above. above, in case anyone is curious.

One reason I have been reluctant to start a project like this is a fear it will interfere with blogging. Then it occurred to me I could post pages here from time to time, neatly killing two flies with one swatter. Page twelve calls, must run...

Mama, Trucks, Drinkin', Prison...and Zombies!

2011-08-12T13:28:00.000-07:00

For some reason, there is a severe shortage of Country songs that feature zombies. A powerful tradition of ignoring the undead stretches all the way from from Hank Williams to Willy Nelson. Whether this is denial, bias or plain old ignorance is, let's face it, too trivial for critics and scholars to say. And the zombie just goes on being neglected by Nashvile, er..Nashville. Looks like it's up to me....
(Click individual pages to enlarge them.)

Hot Off the iPad

2011-08-10T16:12:00.000-07:00

The epicenter of cool in the known Universe? That must be Cesar Rosas. No further questions, your honor. Case closed. (fingerpainted on the iPad.)

OMG! They CAN Fly?

2011-08-04T14:07:00.000-07:00

Uncommon Wisdom #43

2011-08-02T19:17:00.000-07:00

What all the chic riders are having cut off in emergency rooms nationwide!

2011-08-02T13:55:00.000-07:00

Click image to enlarge

Beleaguered Bicyclist? Time to challenge the "Two wheels bad, four wheels good" mentality You can proclaim your membership in the Rolling Resistance by sporting this original design by yours truly on a t-shirt celebrating the few, the rash, the cyclists. Design available as a sticker, too.

Head Shots

2011-07-29T11:49:00.000-07:00

Imaginary Fauna Spotted on a Recent Road Trip

2011-07-26T19:36:00.000-07:00

For some reason, I was the only member of our party of 11 who managed to catch a glimpse of these spectacular and rare creatures. (Click on image to enlarge)

Abduction

2011-07-15T19:51:00.000-07:00

A piece commissioned by the one-of-a-kind Chris Sparks for his personal collection. He left the whole the whole project up to me, from concept to final. I began brainstorming with the word "sparks" which led me to fire flies, which led me to...

Uncommon Wisdom #42

2011-07-13T20:43:00.000-07:00

Murdoch, Shmurdoch. I Begin Taking the World Media Over Tomorrow on KSKA

2011-07-12T20:39:00.000-07:00

In a bid for domination of the world media I will appear on KSKA, 91.1 fm Wednesday July 13 at 2:00, repeating the broadcast by tape delay at 7:00 that evening. I'll be hosting "Hometown Alaska" with an hour-log show on how Alaskans use social media. You can call in if you like between 2:00 and 3:00 or email hometown@alaskapublic.org

Guests will be blogger Steve Aufrecht and PR whiz Mary Deming Barber. And you if you want to pick up the phone. The less I talk, the better!

Uncommon Wisdom #41

2011-07-09T15:59:00.000-07:00

The Animation Page

2011-06-26T21:59:00.000-07:00

Here are my favorite animations created for Frozen Grin. I came to animation late and am self-taught on Flash. I'm no Miyazaki, but there is something fabulous in a Frankensteinly way, about watching your drawings take on motion and sound.

Losing Laika
This is an early piece, Flash was giving me fits and bombing my little Imac. But I still like the story.

Susitna Story
From 2009, This story was written for We Alaskans Magazine in the eighties as an experiment with the comics form. It works much better as an animation, narrated by my pal Frank Gerjevic.

Oblivion 1964
A look back at the Great Alaska Earthquake of 1964, seen through the eyes of a five-year-old me

Frozen Shorts
A collection of tragically brief videos that was runner-up for a Golden Oosik at the Anchorage International Film Festival two years ago. Damn you, Mary Katzke!

What it's like Having Parkinson's Disease
Big fat omnibus of shorts explaining what Parkinson's is like.

Parkinson's Disease and Exercise

My Six (Known) Brushes With Death

Uncommon Wisdom #40

2011-06-15T19:08:00.000-07:00

Listen My Children and You shall Hear of a Pitbull in Lipstick Chasing Paul Revere

2011-06-09T12:17:00.000-07:00

(Click on image to enlarge)

IN person. In Wasilla. In less than a week, it's...

2011-06-08T09:53:00.000-07:00

SEE the talking CARTOONIST! ALIVE! ALIVE! He walks! He talks! He crawls on his belly like a REPTILE! Then, after Lee Post is done, I'll show three short animated films that view Alaska History from ground level. Saturday June 11 at the Dorothy Page Museum in scenic Wasilla. Lee is on at 1:30, I follow at 2:15, It's all part of the A Native Lad: Benny Benson Tells Alaska's Story exhibit

Full-length Version of the Salmon Opera "The Banks of the Rolling Kena"

2011-05-31T14:06:00.000-07:00

Dance of Death 9: That was close!

2011-05-22T15:39:00.000-07:00

Washington Post Interviews Obscure Cartoonist from Far, Far Away, and Famous Cartoonist Nearby About Parkinson's Disease

2011-05-20T11:39:00.000-07:00

(Cross-post from Off and On, the Alaska Parkinson's Rag)

The Public Relations department here at Off and on and Frozen Grin Industries would be remiss if they did not call your attention to this and, more important, this poignant interview with master cartoonist Richard Thompson, whose Parkinson's Disease emerged as he was right at the top of his game. Thanks to Michael Cavna for his perceptive and wide-ranging look at how Parkinson's affects those it afflicts, and how they deal with it.

Rapture Special: What If It Were Rube Goldberg's Job to Design the Endtimes?

2011-05-18T19:17:00.000-07:00

Okay, so this is a rerun. So are the predictions of imminent Rapture.

Poetry Cornered: On the Rapture

2011-05-17T09:33:00.000-07:00

The prediction that the Rapture is coming May 21st seems to have gained a certain amount of momentum. The Rapture is the gathering to God of the faithful, who will be snatched through the air to the bosom of the Lord. I feel compelled here to point out that if you had to learn this from Frozen Grin, things are not looking good for you. On the bright side, as I write, you have a few dwindling hours to atone and set things right. How many hours depends, of course on whether the Rapture is on East Coast time or Alaska time.

Is this really going to happen? Don't be a Jackass. But if it did, what would it mean? That's a more interesting question...

"Heaven for climate, Hell for company"
-Mark Twain

The Lord has called home all his sheep

Too baa-aaad he knows you're just a creep

Look on with envy as to his maker

Goes that good ol' boy Jim Bakker.

Pat Robertson and Billy Graham

Are rising up to glory land

While you wallow in the dreck

It's harps and angels for Glenn Beck!

You were warned, but would not believe so

Say "Later, Dude" to Jerry Prevo.

As you're tormented by a demon

Overhead soars Loren Leman.

Be polite and quit your wailin'

Wave bye-bye to Sarah Palin

Rising upward all en mass

The flock ascends, they pass like gas

Add in the governor, Sean Parnell

And Father forgive me, I look forward to Hell.

Drawings From the iPad, Neither Fish nor Fowl, The Laughing Tree

2011-05-11T18:44:00.000-07:00

Investigation Reveals Hidden Past

2011-05-05T17:52:00.000-07:00

Intermission

2011-05-02T16:59:00.000-07:00

Uncommon Wisdom #39

2011-04-26T23:02:00.000-07:00

Down to the Crossroads: Still learning SetchbookPro for iPad

2011-04-21T12:28:00.000-07:00

Fashion Statement (With a hat tip to the National Lampoon)

2011-04-18T13:14:00.000-07:00

(Click on the image to enlarge)

Available now only in our store, the Frozen Grin Big Box. where you can also find other unique designs available nowhere else in the known Universe. This public service announcement made by your friends at Frozen Grin.

"A Billion Here, a Billion There, Pretty Soon You're Flushing Real Money"

2011-04-14T18:51:00.000-07:00

Set Spam Filter to "Incinerate"

2011-04-11T12:06:00.000-07:00

From the iPad, Learning Sketchbook

2011-04-08T11:05:00.000-07:00

Musician Richard Thompson
Drawn from memory

Minotaur
Playing with Sketchpad under the influence of Guillermo Del Toro

Speaking of High Gasoline Costs

2011-04-07T19:30:00.000-07:00

Dance of Death 8: No Man is an Island

2011-04-07T19:26:00.000-07:00

Pessimists Rally, Put Us a Mere Mile Out From Hell

2011-03-24T11:24:00.000-07:00

We don't know if Hell is half empty or half full, but it seems that it is getting closer. A narrow 1-vote majority puts us back on the edge of Hell, just a mile from the Sooty Gates. The runner up, an only slightly more encouraging "Hell if I know". Smoke 'em if you've got 'em, they'll be smoking soon enough anyway.

When "Failed Senate Candidate With a Dubious Past" won't do...

2011-03-21T20:07:00.000-07:00

Dance of Death Seven: T.S.A./ D.O.A.

2011-03-16T09:37:00.000-07:00

Hello... Dial-a-Prayer?...

2011-03-14T13:28:00.000-07:00

Dance of Death Six: The Customer is always right

2011-03-08T23:16:00.000-08:00

Cynical? Nah, Cynical would be suggesting Cost Overruns Came Through Stupidity and Carelessness

2011-03-05T09:08:00.000-08:00

Dance of Death 5: Howl

2011-03-05T08:54:00.000-08:00

Dance of Death four: Employees Must Wash Hands Before Returning to Work

2011-03-03T11:47:00.000-08:00

Uncommon Wisdom #38

2011-03-01T12:08:00.000-08:00

Dance of Death 3: Checking Out

2011-02-27T16:22:00.000-08:00

Dance of Death 2: Old Friends

2011-02-24T11:10:00.000-08:00

Tuesday with Memento Mori

2011-02-22T11:47:00.000-08:00

I first encountered the Dance of Death in the form of a beaten-up book checked out from my High School Library. It was a reprint of the Hans Holbein Alphabet of Death from the 16th Century. Working in an antiquated style that was a world away from the restraint and sophistication of his paintings, (see his famous portrait of Henry the 8th here) Holbein brilliantly rendered his take on a common theme: the universality and rough equality of death.

In a brutally democratic way, Death came for Popes and peasants. The mighty and the miserable all must bow to a common end. Death could come for anyone at anytime, extending a bony hand in an invitation for a final pas-de-deux.

This was a popular notion at a time of famine and plague in Europe, and there are many other examples. In Lucerne, Switzerland a series of these paintings adorn the rafters of a centuries-old covered bridge. A traveler could look up as he passed over the bridge to see Death going about his business.

Macabre? Yes. But there is a flip side to the message as well. We are here for a limited time only, look around and appreciate the wonder of it all while you can. A reminder of death, a memento mori, can be a powerful reminder of the value of life, too.

As Nouveau-Feudalism struggles to make a comeback in the 21st Century with its radical separation of the winners and losers, emphasis on Crusade and Jihad, and preference for faith over thought, it seems like a good time to look at this theme again. This is the first of a series. Death extends a bony hand...

More Goofing Off

2011-02-19T12:21:00.000-08:00

Goofing Off

2011-02-17T12:50:00.000-08:00

Passion Models

2011-02-15T11:33:00.000-08:00

Alaska, the Blast Frontier

2011-02-10T17:17:00.000-08:00

In Alaska during the mid-twentieth Century, it was an open question whether the U.S.S.R. or our own Government would be the first to nuke us. The honor went to Richard Nixon, although Edward Teller was in hot contention. It was deadly atomic game that played out in our skies, across the Northern tundra and the playing fields of Anchorage. Learn all about it in my new short animation, "How Alaska Won the Cold War" now available exclusively on U.A.A's fabulous Litsite.

Here's the trailer

Autocorrect, Autoasking For It

2011-02-06T14:47:00.000-08:00

To use something called "Autocorrect" is to challenge the Gods to humiliate you. The divine ones reserve perfection for themselves, and are quick to punish lowly humans who aspire to that lofty state. This means every time you text someone your perfect, autocorrected message, you run the risk of offending the Gods. I know, technology is supposed to make life simpler, but it is also an area where the law of unintended consequences is most rigidly enforced.

Compare "Autocorrect" to the humility of "Spell-check". Spell-check won't catch you every time you fall. For instance, if you happen to type "exotic sex" when you meant "exotic sects", you're on your own, pal. But it won't actively trip you. Not so with autocorrect. This is bad news for the millions of us that have some form of autocorrection as a built-in feature on our electronic devices. It's a cosmic "kick-me" sign we blithely tape to our own backs. The Gods are only too happy to oblige. And their wrath can be terrible.

Errors introduced into messages are so numerous, devastating, and hilarious that there is even a website dedicated to them. The site is a schadenfreude smorgasboard. Who says words don't have consequences?

It's bad enough that this program will put words in your mouth. What's deadly is a tendency to put the kind of word there that inspired my 8th grade choir teacher to devastate a class clown with the observation "I wouldn't have in my hand what you just had in your mouth".

Things can go sideways fast when you're up against divine jealousy. With typical fiendishness, the dissed deities make the instrument of your sin the instrument of your punishment. One minute you're texting your boss that you'll be late for work, and suddenly the two of you are talking with acute embarrassment about scatological terms that theoretically neither of you should have the vocabulary for. It's as if Tourette's Syndrome somehow jumped the gap between man and machine, and went viral on the internet.

So I'm trying to keep my head down. Like the careful Navajo who include a tiny flaw somewhere in their intricately woven rugs to ward off offense to the supernatural, I have a plan. My idea is a computer program that automatically includes a transposed pair of letters, a misused hyphen or an errant apostrophe. This, in theory, inoculates the user against innocently inviting wrath from above. When you find some small error, some warped syntax, some flawed logic in my work, don't automatically put it down to sloppiness or stupidity. It may be a typo, or it may be an act of deliberate humility by one who is all too aware of human frailty, and gives the Gods hteir due.

A Doodle

2011-02-03T17:17:00.001-08:00

One of the fun things about touch screens, there is always something handy to doodle on. As a hard-core doodler my only worry is running out of battery,

Trailer For New Animation: How Alaska Won the Cold War

2011-01-31T15:13:00.000-08:00

New animation soon to be released at Litsite! Stay tuned...

Uncommon Wisdom #37

2011-01-31T11:39:00.001-08:00

A Burst of Optimism: For the First Time, Helldometer says things are going FROM Hell

2011-01-29T15:46:00.000-08:00

Here's some good news, or at least some good opinion. For the first time, the editors of Frozen Grin have moved the mileage of the Helldometer up, from 1 mile away to 333 miles to Hell. The editors were responding to the vote of you, the incredibly informed public. Our massive 12 vote sample reflected a convincing trend away from the notion that we are soon to be roasting like bipedal oxen on some satanic spit while lesser demons rub jerk spices in our wounds.

Not only did half the voters pick the new number of 333 miles to hell, a surprising 8% put us at 666 miles out. OK so that was one person, is it my fault the world at large is so apathetic about the burning questions of our day?

Even more interesting, a solid 25% responded "Hell if I know" indicating an impressive amount of "dithering" among normally confident Frozen Grin readers. Or at least, among three of you.

This poll was, sadly, taken right before all Hell broke loose in Egypt, so savor the moment. Meanwhile, it looks like it may be time to vote again.

Object Lesson

2011-01-28T09:17:00.000-08:00

Did I have fun at the International Gallery of Contemporary Art's "Object Runway" fashion show? Judge for yourself on the basis of these sketches done during the event. These are imagined outfits, inspired by the people and creations swirling with the DJ's thump and clang through the Bear Tooth last night. Sketches were created on my iPhone, then melded in Photo shop.

A Cartoonist's Cause

2011-01-26T09:04:00.000-08:00

(Click image to enlarge.)

As many of you know, I have Parkinson's Disease. I haven't made much of it on this blog (I have another blog for that, it's here). But I've come across another place where Parkinson's Disease overlaps cartooning. Richard Thompson, a talented cartoonist and the author of the "Cul de Sac" comic strip has announced that he is also in the early stages of the post-diagnosis phase of the disease.

Unfortunately this insidious disease inflicts much damage before it is detectable. Parkinson's Disease is like a slow-moving brain injury that eventually robs its victims of the ability to initiate voluntary movement- to walk, to speak, to draw. There is no cure. However with careful management of the medications, diet, and exercise there is every hope that Richard will be able to produce his beautiful drawings for many years.

In the meantime, Richard's friends have organized a fund-raising effort on behalf of research into Parkinson's Disease through The Michael J. Fox Foundation Cartoonists are asked to contribute artwork for a book and auction to fund the cause. If you're not a cartoonist, but want to help, there is a button there which you can press to donate money.

For the theme of the book, cartoonists are invited to use the Cul de Sac characters as they will in their own artwork, interpreting them freely. My contribution appears above.

Uncommon Wisdom #36

2011-01-21T12:39:00.000-08:00

Colorful Speech

2011-01-16T10:25:00.000-08:00

I Love the Smell of Brimstone in the Morning! Time to Reset the Helldometer

2011-01-16T08:28:00.000-08:00

President Obama has given us a surprising speech, and possibly reset the tone from 11 (howl of Banshee and Windigo) to maybe, 5 (Clueless man on a cellphone in a noisy bar.) On the Hill, bills have been postponed and people are talking about "discourse" which is a fancy word for speech that is has lately been debased in an attempt to put a respectable face onto "The continuation of war by other means".

Frozen Grin wants your opinion. Left or right, there seems to be agreement that things are going to Hell. But how close is it? The Helldometer has been holding steady at 1 mile since the election. Is there a change in the wind, or is it merely that the Satanic Blast furnaces have shifted from #3 brimstone to #5? What is our current proximity to Hell? You can help establish that by voting in the Helldometer poll.

For the painfully honest among you, we have added a new option: "Hell if I know". Vote now at the top of the right column.

Chapter four: If You Understood a Single Thing I've Written, You Wouldn't Have Read This Far

2011-01-03T09:40:00.000-08:00

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

2010-12-29T16:46:00.000-08:00

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)

2010-12-15T15:30:00.000-08:00

Exhausted Appeal

2010-12-13T20:55:00.000-08:00

Marksism

2010-12-09T16:10:00.000-08:00

Uncommon Wisdom #35

2010-12-07T11:30:00.000-08:00

Looking for more Uncommon Wisdom? Check here

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

2010-12-04T09:50:00.000-08:00

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

2010-11-28T15:57:00.000-08:00

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

2010-11-26T11:36:00.000-08:00

(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

2010-11-22T12:33:00.000-08:00

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

2010-11-22T07:39:00.000-08:00

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

2010-11-15T17:25:00.000-08:00

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

2010-10-28T08:47:00.000-07:00

All in the Family

2010-10-28T08:38:00.000-07:00

Any Questions?

2010-10-21T10:03:00.001-07:00

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

2010-10-21T08:19:00.000-07:00

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 Reman Silent...

2010-10-18T14:55:00.000-07:00

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?

2010-10-13T10:18:00.000-07:00

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?

2010-10-11T17:36:00.000-07:00

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

2010-10-10T14:30:00.000-07:00

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

2010-09-20T10:31:00.000-07:00