Morty Comix # 2572

I was going to place Morty Comix # 2572 in a bus stop on Capitol Blvd. in Tumwater, Washington, but I saw this little "YHWH is the devil! Only CHRIST is God!" sign in there. Whatever. I sure didn't want to share space with it. So, I left this issue of Morty Comix in another bus stop, on the (considering the circumstances) ironically named Israel Rd.

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The Fabs

Postcard - Seattle, Washington

"King County Domed Stadium. Seattle's multi-purpose stadium, the Kingdome, has a maximum seating capacity of 80,000. The Stadium houses major sporting and entertainment events, and conventions. In the background are Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains."

2nd half of the 1970s. The Kingdome was blowed up real good in 2000. YeeHaw!

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The shopping trip at the grocery store where only blue items were purchased.

Morty Comix # 2571

Morty Comix # 2571 was left wedged between a chair and side table at a lobby in a state government building, Tumwater, Washington.

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Washington State cutting board

Does Gilbert Shelton Have a Legal Case Here?

As I mentioned a few months ago, I hope Gilbert Shelton is getting some kind of commission from the catnip company Ducky World for the blatant use of his Fat Freddy's Cat character. And maybe he is, but I sure don't see Shelton's name anywhere on this container.

If Shelton is getting screwed over here, I can empathize.

Any attorneys who want to play David to Goliath (pro bono, of course, we cartooning librarians are not living in poverty, but we can see it from here) are welcome to contact me about Disney's use of my Floating Baby Head character. I think I have a good case. My character appeared in a nationally distributed comic book long before it later turned up in Phineas and Ferb.

Corporate America had no problem going after the underground cartoonists for copyright violations, but seems perfectly at ease lifting the creative efforts of underground/Newave artists for their own profit.

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Power Team

Keep [LOOK AT ME! LOOK At ME!] Weird

The "Keep [Blank] Weird" trend supposedly started in Austin, but has spread like eczema across the cultural epidermis. So sad.

Maybe it was original the first time it was used, but now it is hardly unique or creative.

To me the whole idea of weirdness is that the subject in question is out of touch with common reality and somewhat unaware of their own weirdness. Rotary Club meetings are weird. Most of the small towns in southwest Washington State are weird. The Tea Party is weird. Cats are weird. People who wear bicycle helmets indoors are weird. Silverware is weird.

Actually most of life is weird. But among the things that are not weird are cities, or entire states, that jump up and down and shout "Look at us! We're weird!" That's not weird, that's just marketing, which is pretty mundane. Since my motto is "Drabness is Goodness," I can hardly complain about this "Keep ... Weird" ad campaign, so I'll embrace the paradox as part of normal pop culture.

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Oregon Trail

1844

Marked by the

Daughters and Sons of

the American Revolution

in the State of Washington

1916

I have probably passed by this marker thousands of times in my life, but this month was the first time I ever really noticed it! It sits nears the Falls Terrace Restaurant, and in 1916 it would've been right in the center of action in downtown Tumwater, Washington.

See that concrete wall in the background? Interstate 5 is on the other side. When it plowed through this area in the 1950s the freeway destroyed the heart of the first American settlement in the Puget Sound region. The town has been more or less of a crazy quilt ever since.

Postcard - Seattle, Washington

"An aerial view of Seattle from the south shows the King County Domed Stadium in the foreground, the Downtown Business District, and the Space Needle in the background. To the left is a small part of Seattle's busy waterfront."


Sound familiar? It should. The text is exactly the same as the previous postcard I posted. This one appears to be just slightly later than the other postcard.

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This discarded portable dental floss joins a growing gallery of these repulsive things I have discovered and documented for this blog. This one was found just outside McCleary, Washington. Click on the tag "portable dental floss" below to see the others.

Morty Comix # 2570

Morty Comix # 2570 was placed among the interior supporting 2x4s of a newspaper vending machine shed in Panorama City, a retirement community in Lacey, Washington.

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Tumwater, Washington

Favorite Movie Quotes: Stakeout

"Alright, take this down. I think we got something to check out. He apparently has a buddy with the initials 'B.C.' right here in Seattle ..."

This is never fully explained in this 1987 movie, but it should be obvious the man they were looking for was a guy who lived in that city at that time named "Bruce Chrislip"!

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McCleary, Washington

Postcard - Seattle, Washington

"An aerial view of Seattle from the south shows the King County Domed Stadium in the foreground, the Downtown Business District, and the Space Needle in the background. To the left is a small part of Seattle's busy waterfront."

1970s

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Hettie and the Boys

Postcard - Seattle, Washington

"Seattle, Washington. This panoramic view, looking towards the northwest, shows the King County Domed Stadium, with a maximum capacity of 80,000, and the Downtown Business District. In the background is Seattle's waterfront and the Olympic Mountain Range."

From the mid-1970s. When that black skyscraper on the left was erected, locals called it "The box the Space Needle Arrived In."

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Postcard - Seattle, Washington

"Seattle, Washington. The new King County Domed Stadium (home of the Seahawks) opens in 1976 and is the dominating structure in this birds eye view of the 'Queen City.' The stadium covers 9.1 acres -- 720 feet outside diameter -- 250 feet to top of dome -- will seat 60,000 for baseball, 65,000 for football and 80,000 for personality shows."

As it turned out, this structure became the King County Doomed Stadium.

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Charlie embraces his reluctant mentor, Buster

WARNING! HELL IS WAITING FOR YOU!

And they'll be NO BUTTER IN HELL!!

A newspaper ad from the early 1980s, during the rise of Ron the Con.

I love the "Christians Who Love You" counterbalance after a message of despair and fear.

Personally, I prefer Shakespeare: "Use every man after his desert, and who should ’scape whipping? Use them after your own honor and dignity. The less they deserve, the more merit is in your bounty. Take them in."

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Buster

Postcard - Seattle, Washington

"Lake Union, Seattle, Washington. Located in the heart of the city this lake provides recreation for boaters as well as a home for those who live in houseboats. Interstate Hiway 5 is in the center and in the background magnificent Mount Rainier."

1970s.

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Hettie

My Old Girl

Postcard - Seattle, Washington

"Seattle, Washington's Gasworks Park, on the north shore of Lake Union provides an attractive recreational setting. In the background, the downtown business district."

Late 1970s, most likely. Too bad the postcard didn't include the crazy looking industrial ruins of the park.

During Norwescon 20 in 1997 at SeaTac the amazing Brad Foster was a guest of honor and several cartoonists hijacked him and took him to this park. I wasn't part of that crew but I did join the subsequent comix lunch. We all compared what we had studied in college to the reality of what we were doing now. I believe I was the only one in the large group who was actually employed in my academic degree (MLS, i.e., librarianship).