Phone photo 2570

James Abbott mural detail

McCleary, Washington

There is something deliciously and I'm sure unintentionally disturbing about the way he painted facial expressions in nearly all of the works he created around Grays Harbor County, although his landscape work was really good. It just adds to the surreal feeling many visitors have when visiting this zone of Washington State, Bezango WA 985.

Morty Comix # 2588

 Morty Comix # 2588 had a rather convoluted journey to its distribution point

 

After I drew the thing, I cut it up into strips and used a staple gun to attach the dissected comic onto a stick. This stick was in fact part of a garden stake I had used as part of a 2007 art exhibit of Bezango WA 985

Then I pounded the stake into the ground at the Rock Candy Mountain intersection on SR 8 near Summit Lake. A traffic cam is there. For a few hours this Morty Comix was included in the image, if you can make out that white spot in the right hand corner.

But as the clouds grew darker, I rescued the Morty Comix from rain and put it in an envelope, then in a plastic bag, and sealed it with man's best friend-- duct tape. These are instruments in the dynamics of change

Then I grabbed some clothesline and clothespins (also from that Bezango exhibit) as I formed a new plan.

Nirvana fans might be aware that one of the few tourist attractions here in McCleary is the mileage sign on SR8 where Cobain and Novoselic were photographed highlighting the 666 numbers.

Early this morning I paid a visit to that sign, which has been lowered, planning to somehow tie the Morty Comix to the thing. But to my delight the holes in the posts provided a great opportunity for me to pigeonhole this issue.

The End.

Morty Comix # 2565

Morty Comix # 2565 took advantage of a flaw in an information kiosk on the Interstate 5 exit for Winlock, Washington. One of the metal display sheets had a "wow" in it, just inviting a Morty Comix to jump in there, where I suspect it will remain for years.

I imagine on a totally clear day, which we don't really have too many of here in Bezango, WA, this site offers a great vantage point for viewing what is left of Mt. St. Helens.

Hard to believe, but Winlock was actually a hotspot for Communist activity back in the 1920s-1930s.

Morty Comix # 2564

 

Morty Comix # 2564 was left at a place I've been before, as documented in Phone Photo 752. This restaurant in Kalama, Washington has the kind of booth seats where the cushion sits on top of a hollow box. If you contort yourself just right, you can drop off something, say, a Morty Comix, into the hollow area under the booth seat where it probably won't be found for years.

This joint had a couple playing cards (Ace of Diamonds, Ace of Hearts) on the ceiling with names and Oct./Nov. 2011 dates on them. The waitress told me they were there all this time as a residue of some act given by a magician, who had made a whole bunch of cards mysteriously stick to the ceiling.

By the way, this is a great place to stop if you are on I-5 and hungry between Oly and Portland.

Life in Bezango!

 

Postcard - Olympia, Washington

"Olympia, Washington -- This is the Capitol City of the State of Washington, and also is a port at the southern tip of Puget Sound."

A view of downtown Oly in the 1960s, looking north on Capitol Way. I could tell 100 stories just from using parts of this image as a starting place.

For example: The Santa Claus character I used in the Bezango WA 985 series was based on a real person. The incident took place in that green building in the left background, the Mottman Building.

Morty Comix # 2451

Morty Comix # 2451 was left behind a mysterious black box in an Olympia, Washington coffee joint.

When I was a kid this place was a variety store and back in the left corner there sat a beautiful and functional soda fountain.

In 2007 this place exhibited all my pages from Bezango WA 985 as a 2-month gallery show.

Morty Comix # 2409 - # 2415 Watercolor Series

Morty Comix # 2409 through # 2415 can be called the Watercolor Series. Before I post these things, they will require some explanation since the final products came out even weirder than normal, and even I will admit that is saying a lot.

Last year when Colin Upton told me "Color is for the weak," I really knew what he meant. So call this a moment of weakness while I was on a staycation.

First, I tied a string between a young elm that is sharing some kind of leaf disease with all the other elms in my yard, and a tree from the Southeast called, I think, the Devil's Walking Stick. This was a tree my Dad, may he rest in peace, gave me to plant. When a guy from Alabama fixed my garage roof a few years ago, he asked why I had this big weed in my yard on purpose.

Then, using some of the very same clothespins I employed in the Bezango WA 985 art exhibit at Batdorf and Bronson in Olympia several years ago, I hung up seven blank sheets of letter size typing paper.

What I was about to do has been on my mind for quite some time. A year ago, maybe more, maybe less, I had purchased a cheap watercolor set and a suction-cup toy gun. I laid them out with a styrofoam cup filled with water on an issue of our local weekly newspaper, the East County News.

I dipped the suction cup end in water and after that in the watercolor set. Then I took aim and fired at close range. I did this over and over, for about 30 minutes.

Yes, here's a case where a gun is really a tool for something good. The "gun is a tool" argument is frequently repeated by the gun crazies. In my situation, I was making something fun. But the real gun is a tool for one thing: wounding or killing someone. And that is not good. 

Here's the ironic part. I dislike guns and think the National Rifle Association is full of paranoid rightwing nutjobs with a penis complex. Oops, I was being quadruple redundant there. My review of Bowling for Columbine in Cheaper by the Dozen 6 pretty much summarizes my mixed feelings on firearms.

Anyway, here's an example of the results of my efforts. This sheet of paper eventually became Morty Comix # 2410 after I finished with it. You'll see.

Sarah happened to be here when I was performing this act of art, wondering what the Hell I was doing as I failed to explain what I was up to while she was visiting. So she took this photo since she is a journalist. I apparently did not inherit my Willis grandfather's deadeye aim when he had his famous 1931 shootout, killing two people and taking three bullets himself and living through it. Even at this close range, I still missed several times.

When this orgy of watercolor violence was over the toy gun was no longer functional. I'm sure members of the NRA can appreciate how Freudian that is. I had to throw all the supplies away.


At any rate, now you have the background on the next round of Morty Comix.

Has "Mostly Butter" become a reality?

My nephew Zach took this photo at the airport and asked if someone had swiped the "Mostly Butter" business concept I cooked up long ago. I first came up with the "Mostly Butter" idea back in the 1980s, but didn't communicate it in print, so far as I can recall, until 2002 in Bezango WA 985 #5.

(Click on second image to enlarge and read the scenario)

As it turns out, the "Butter London" business is apparently for nail polish. Perhaps they should change their name to "Mostly Nail Polish"? Or, "Butter Fingers"?

Morty Comix # 2404

Morty Comix # 2404 was drawn on a notepad given to me as an incentive to subscribe to the magazine Golf Digest, which is very strange since I have never played golf and have no desire to learn. In fact, the whole world of sports strikes me as incredibly and expensively absurd, but I recognize I am very much in the minority view here in America and realize millions find joy and meaning in this activity. This is a major part of the human experience most people find very important but has somehow escaped me. I just don't get it. But I'm OK with being a freak in this regard.

Sports have appeared in my comix. In my book Dog of Dawn Dog of Dusk I highlighted the historical sport of Dog Butting, introduced to me by my friend Bob Richart, who was featured in an altered way as a character in the story. Also in State of Beings # 5 I proposed my new baseball team, the Stationary Pus-Filled Pancakes.

Sarah introduced me to Robin Williams' great take on golf a few years ago. The fact I have a healthy dose of Scottish blood made me laugh even harder.

Page 2-3 of this Morty Comix came from two leftover old post-its I had from Morty Comix # 2394, which were affixed to an outside door almost two weeks ago and were, incredibly, still there when I drove by  today even though the weather here has been rainy and windy!

Anyway, since someone in my town has seen fit to take down anything I put up on the Post Office community bulletin board, rip it into shreds and throw it away, I decided to tuck this Morty Comix behind the bulletin board. I know who the perpetrator is and I highly doubt she follows this blog, so I think this one will survive her strange and unvoiced hostility to my work.

McCleary is kind of a weird place. I tried to capture the culture in my Bezango WA 985 series. We enable our many local eccentrics and that adds to the surrealism.