Ricki S. sent in this picture of a real-life doughplane! (Photo credit: Tim Walker.)

–

In two weeks I’ll be in Vancouver for the first-ever Vancouver Comic Arts Festival! I hope you’ll come say hello. We’ll be doing a Machine of Death game panel (similar to this one we did in Toronto last year) and it should be tons of fun. If you’re a Vancouver local and interested in volunteering at the show, you can check out the VanCAF forums.

I haven’t been to Vancouver since I was five years old, I look forward to remembering anything at all about it this time around!

NOTE: Due to a conflicting engagement, I will not be at the Bay Area Maker Faire this year. I know! I’m bummed too. But I will be at Jesse Thorn’s MaxFunCon in June, leading a seminar called “Victorian Portraiture the Easy Way!” If you’re a registered MaxFunCon attendee, activity signup is open now.

–

Zachary Bernstein (whom you may remember from his performance at the Machine of Death Half-Birthday Party & Talent Show) is putting on a comedy musical here in Los Angeles, and he’s holding auditions. Here’s Zachary:

“Disasteroid!” is an original musical comedy about a man who mistakenly believes that the world is going to end, and acts accordingly.

This is a NON-UNION theater show. No Pay. Will be performed at the Sacred Fools Theater in Hollywood, August 10th, 11th, 12th, 17th, 18th, and 19th. Rehearsals start the first week in July.

We’re looking for comedic actors, who can sing just well enough or better. There will also be some dancing, but nothing too ambitious. The original songs have diverse styles. Actors auditioning for roles should be prepared to sing “Moon River,” “I Feel Pretty,” “Aquarius,” or a Beatles song.

Note: Ages of the characters DO NOT mean those must be the ages of the actors. This is theater, after all.

ALFRED EDGLEY (early 30s): Tax auditor pining to be a professional astronomer, timid at the office, but more daring in his spare time (Lead, 7 songs.)

MABEL BELLCOAT (early 30s): Wealthy philanthropist with low self-esteem, coquettish but doe-eyed and easily worried about what others think of her (Lead, 6 songs)

MITZI STERN (40s): Edgley’s unapologetic, tough, sadistic boss. She rules with an iron fist, and is constantly irritated by her subordinates and everyone else pretty much. This is a very meaty comedic villain role (Supporting, 1 1/2 songs.)

PETE PETTY (Any age): Edgley’s co-worker. A nice, harmless guy, but odd. (Supporting, 2 1/2 songs.)

To put your name in the hat, please submit to our breakdown on Actor’s Access. If you do not have Actor’s Access, please send a headshot and resume to: ztsbernstein [at] gmail.com. Thanks!

–

BONUS LINK: Last 24 Hour Comics Day, the French cartoonist “Boulet” drew a 24-page comic called “Darkness” that’s incredible. Do yourself a favor and read it immediately, it’s just great.

It’s the 30th anniversary of the video game Dig Dug and Namco/Bandai has commissioned a bunch of webcomics authors to do special comics to mark the occasion! I’m on deck to do one, as are tons more of your favorite webcomics pals. There’s more general info here, and while the comics haven’t been released yet, I’ll be sure and link to them once they are!

Here are a couple of my favorite sketches from recent conventions! (Click for bigger versions.)

This was for a “Monsters and/or Robots” themed sketchbook:

I think this was my own idea, I can’t remember if there was a suggestion that prompted it:

“Gax hugging Mr Meanscary”:

“Polar bear with a nosebleed” (for a polar-bear-with-a-nosebleed themed sketchbook, I think):

BONUS LINK: At TCAF last weekend I met Tamara, who made a bunch of webcomics-themed cookies! Adorable!

(Photo by @donutage)

Good news! My Hyperbolic Upgrade Stickers (one of which is pictured above) are now available at TopatoCo. So, if you want to bundle a sticker order with greeting cards, you can get them from me, or if you want to bundle them with posters or shirts, get them from TopatoCo!

Also, I’ll be in Toronto this weekend at TCAF, and I made some special prints for the show! (Pictured above.) I’d be happy to sign one for you and draw a word balloon indicating what words of advice Gax has for you. TCAF is a free show held in Toronto’s Downtown Reference Library, and it’s a ton of fun! I’ll be on the second floor waving my arms furiously.

I’ll also be at the TopatoCo Book Release/TCAF Kickoff Party on Friday night! Come say hello! Hooray!

(Letters by Stack)

When I was a kid learning the alphabet I believed that certain letters were “weird letters.” In the same way that letters could be divided into consonants or vowels, or single-syllable and multi-syllable (everything else vs. W), I believed that letters could be divided into regular letters and weird letters.

I don’t know what the criterion for labeling letters “weird” was. It might have had something to do with rarity — my weird letters are mostly the ones with high Scrabble points.

I didn’t think much of it until one day when I visited my cousins. I was probably around eight or nine, and my cousin made an offhand reference to J as a “weird letter.” In that instant I thought: Is this common knowledge? Are the weird letters an actual thing that everybody knows about?

Since then I’ve never heard a reference to any canonical set of weird letters, nor have I kept the torch alive. But for the record, my weird letters were:

Weird: J K Q V X Z
Kind of weird: G W Y

So here are my questions for you:

1. Does this make any sense? Is there a logic to it that my child brain sensed that I can’t make heads or tails of now?

2. Did anybody else think anything remotely similar?

3. What’s a weird way that you made sense of the world as a child?

Leave a comment with your thoughts!