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Archive for the ‘Short Story’ Category

Christine Schutt-“Prosperous Friends” (Harper’s, November 2009)

Posted in Christine Schutt, Marriage Trouble, New Yorker, Short Story, The Sopranos, Tindersticks, Unlikable main character on October 26, 2009| Leave a Comment »

harperSOUNDTRACK: TINDERSTICKS: Tindersticks [the black and white one] (1995).

tinderThis second album (often called II, but according to the band, is called Tindertsticks) continues the coolness of the first disc.  But this disc seems to have a few more “singles” (or what could have been singles) on it.  “A Night In” has a great slow building, string filled chorus that reaches tremendous heights.  Staples’ voice sounds even better, too.  A bit fuller, a bit less hesitant.

It also features the gorgeous, vibe-fueled, spoken word tale called “My Sister.”  And then there’s the fantastic, monumental “Tiny Tears.”  (It was featured in a Sopranos episode (Season One, Episode 12: “Isabella”) perfectly, and I was delighted to hear it. (I’m not the only one who thinks it was perfect, see here]).  It begins as a quiet piece with the fantastic opening lyrics:

You’ve been lying in bed for a week now
Wondering how long it’ll take
You haven’t spoke, or looked at her in all that time
It’s the easiest line you could break
She’s been going round her business as usual
Always with that melancholy smile
But you were too busy looking into yourself
To see those tiny tears in her eyes.

And of course, it builds into a string filled melancholy ballad.  Beautiful.  Another great track, “Talk to Me” gets so intense as the song progresses (dissonant strings and horns cranked to ten), that it’s almost scary.  This is followed by the contrite and very mellow “No More Affairs.”  Oh, and then comes the stunning duet “Travelling Light” which is sheer beauty.

I also really enjoy the two instrumentals “Vertrauen II” and “Vertrauen III” for their creepy atmospherics and theremin use.

It’s another stellar collection from Tindertsicks.  And another triumph of atmospheric music.  And, frankly, it’s just as well that they gave this disc the same name as the first as they are practically a continuous cycle of awesomeness.

This disc was reissued with the previously hard to find “Live at the Bloomsbury Theatre 12.3.95.”

[READ: October 19, 2009] “Prosperous Friends”

This story of a disaffected married couple didn’t really appeal to me at first.  The characters (especially the wife) seemed very caustic but there hadn’t been enough setup or explanation for the causticity.  When they visit his old (girl?)friend, the four people have an uncomfortable meal together.  I also had a but of trouble keeping the two men straight: Ted and Ben are a little too similar as names. (more…)

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McSweeney’s #32

Posted in Adventure, Anthony Doerr, Chris Adrian, Chris Bachelder, Consumerism, Corporate skewering, Death, End of the World, Heidi Julavits, J. Erin Sweeney, Jim Shepard, LGBTQ, McSweeney's, Natural Disasters, Plague, Salvador Plascencia, Sesshu Foster, Sheila Heti, Short Story, Technology, The Future, Threats, Tindersticks, Wells Tower on October 24, 2009| Leave a Comment »

32SOUNDTRACK: TINDERSTICKS-Tindersticks [the red one] (1993).

tsTindersticks are a fascinating band.  The first distinctive thing about them is Stuart Staples’ voice: a deep rich bass that he uses almost like a whisper.  The second thing you notice is the music.  It’s an orchestral/chamber pop collection of dark rockers with fantastic moodiness to it.  And then you notice the lyrics: dark songs of lost (and decayed) love.

Yet despite the description of chamber pop, the nad is really much darker than chamber pop suggests.  The band has a very noir sound: organs that penetrate through walls of sound, tinkling pianos suring hushed moments.  The horns and strings add dark atmospherics (strings zing like a Hitchcock movie).  And the minor key chords are rich and loud.

You also get a song like “Whisky and Water” which genuinely rocks hard (loud guitars are featured).  Or a simple acoustic guitar driven song like “Blood.”  Throughout the disk you get these fantastic melodies that play off of Staples’ voice and the twisted lyrics.  “City Sickness” and “Patchwork” are just two of the tracks that are very catchy.

And then there’s the fantastic “Jism” with its awesome noir organ.  Or “Raindrops” with its accents of vibes and the beautiful piano trilling at the end (and the detailed and emotional lyrics: What we got here is a lazy love / It mooches around the house / Can’t wait to go out / What it needs, it just grabs / It never asks / We sit and watch the divide widen / We sit and listen to our hearts crumble”).  “Her” follows up with a wonderfully flamenco-infused spaghetti western number.

And lets not forget “Drunk Tank” a propulsive song that is as sinister as it is catchy.  Oh heck, I could just keep raving.  But there’s 22 songs!   Four songs are about a minute each, and the disc is about 75 minutes (not bad for a debut!).  And the disc never loses momentum or its sense of purpose.

What really distinguishes this disk is the mood of the music.  Like the best soundtracks, you can feel the emotions and imagery with the music alone, but when you add Staples’ evocative lyrics and powerful voice, it’s a deadly potent combination.

The disc was reissued a few years ago with a bonus disc of demo tracks.  The demos are surprisingly rich (they’re not at-home recordings or done without accompaniment) so they don’t differ that dramatically from the originals.  But they have a slightly less polished feel, which doesn’t hurt the band at all. There’s also a demo of the fantastic “For Those…” which doesn’t appear on the original disc.

I have to thank my friend Lar for getting me into this band. (Thanks Lar).

[READ: October 19, 2009] McSweeney’s #32

The concept for this issue is this: McSweeney’s asked several authors to “travel somewhere in the world–Budapest, Cape Town, Houston, any sleepy or sleepless outpost they could find–and send back a story set in that spot fifteen years from now, in the year 2024.”

And so, all of the stories are vaguely sci-fi-ish in that they are future related, but they are all grounded very heavily in reality, in particular, the reality of individuals trying to live in this future world. (more…)

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George Saunders–“Victory Lap” (New Yorker, October 5, 2009)

Posted in Funny (ha ha), George Saunders, New Yorker, Placebo, Q, Short Story, Violence on October 22, 2009| 1 Comment »

oct5SOUNDTRACK: PLACEBO-Battle for the Sun (2009).

battlesunI’ve been a fan of Placebo since their first disc came out (I had to hunt it down after reading a great review in Q magazine).  Imagine my surprise when they took off with their next album and the huge single “Every You Every Me.”

Battle for the Sun is their sixth album and things haven’t changed too dramatically for them (except that they don’t have any huge singles anymore).  This album experiments with a few different styles (including a few places where it almost sounds like pop metal influences are creeping in). There’s even horns on a couple of the songs.  They don’t add a lot to the tracks, but they also don’t really detract from them either.

But even with these modifications, their sound remains hard guitar driven alt-rock with a touch of glam and the ever present love it or hate it vocals of Brian Molko.  Molko has a fascinating way with lyrics.  So on “Battle for the Sun” we have fascinating parts where he sings a word 7 times at the end of certain lines: “I, I, I, I, I will brush of all the dirt, dirt, dirt, dirt, dirt, dirt, dirt.”  And this will either drive you insane or you will accept it as part of the song.

As with past Placebo records, I have enjoyed this one quite a bit.  There’s always something catchy coming forth, and even if Malko’s lyrics aren’t the most original (“no one here gets out alive” (!)),  his delivery is wonderfully arch/angry/sexy depending on his needs.

The album overall isn’t as grand as Without You I’m Nothing, but if you like Placebo, Battle for the Sun won’t disappoint.  If you’re not a fan, it’s not going to change your mind about them.

[READ: October 15, 2009] “Victory Lap”

This is, hands down, one of my favorite short stories of the year.  The story takes some major sharp turns to get where it winds up, and it is very intense at the same time.

It opens with this hilarious look at soon-to-be-15 Alison Pope.  And if the story had stayed just with her it would have been fantastic anyhow.  Alison is in her own head: as she walks down the stairs of her house, she dismisses suitors on either side, speaking garbled French and mocking their word choices (“Had he said small package?”).  But when she gets to the bottom of the stairs, she sees a baby deer in the woods (of her living room).  And when she speaks to it, it answers (in the voice of her younger sister).  The section is full of {actions} and is charming and very funny.  Saunders captured this character perfectly, and as I said, I could have read about her for pages and pages. (more…)

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Julian Barnes–“Complicity” (New Yorker, October 19, 2009)

Posted in Jill Sobule, Julian Barnes, New Yorker, Record Labels, Romance, Short Story on October 20, 2009| Leave a Comment »

ny19SOUNDTRACK: JILL SOBULE-Underdog Victorious (2004).

sobuleAfter ordering California Years, I saw that she had released this disc, Underdog Victorious, which I had never heard of.  Then I found it used for pretty cheap.  The most exciting thing about the disc is that there’s a crossword puzzle (that is largely about Jill herself) done by Will Shortz on the inside back cover!

And the music is really good too.  It’s a solid collection of sarcastic rockers and earnest tales of mild woe.  The short track “Under the Disco Ball” (a sarcastic look at homophobes) seems like it would be an ideal song to start any show.  I can see the disco ball spinning as she sings the final lines, “They have a scheme, they have a plan, to take the children of our land and turn them into stylists and women who play golf.”  And then she could bust into the rocking title track which features a delightful sing along chorus.

The disc opens with a couple of more gentle songs.  The self deprecating “Freshman” (she lives like a freshman), and “Jetpack” which is a nice romantic story about what she would do is she had a jetpack.  And then the single “Cinnamon Park” which should have been huge.  It’s catchy, it’s clever, it seems like it’s going to have a curse but it doesn’t.  It’s great!

“Joey” is a tribute to a faded actress (but I can’t decide if she’s real or not). And “Angel/?” is probably the most vulgar song she’s recorded.  It’s very funny.  And the last two mellow songs end the disc quite nicely.  There’s even a bonus untitled song about getting pulled over which rocks rather hard (for her) and is quite funny.

It’s a shame that Sobule had such a hard time with record labels because she is a preeminent singer-songwriter, and she should have a bigger fanbase.  (Although since she raised $75,000 in just a couple months for her California Years CD, I gather her fanbase is big enough, thank you.)

[READ: October 15, 2009] “Complicity”

This story was written in a really interesting way.  It deals with sensation, primarily touch, and the narrator treats tactile sensation, even his own, as something that is almost disconnected from himself.  And he reflects back on different situations where touch has been very significant to him.

He begins by remembering that when he was a boy with hiccups, his mother would slip a cold key down his back.  And he can still feel this sensation as an adult (although he’s not sure if it’s a valid cure for hiccups).

And then he talks about the game where you (and others) close your eyes and touch things and try to guess what the object is (pay particular attention to peeled lychees).  And this game seems to be a foundation for his upcoming date with a woman he met at a party.  While talking to the woman’s mother, he surreptitiously hands the woman a cigarette and a pack of matches behind the mother’s back.  This entirely tactile experience (touching fingertips, feeling the matches removed, etc.) stayed with him. (more…)

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Donald Barthelme–“Among the Beanwoods,” “Heather,” “Pandemonium” (Harper’s, November 2007)

Posted in Donald Barthelme, Flash Fiction, Funny (strange), Harper's, Jill Sobule, McSweeney's, Missoula, MT, Postmoderism, Short Story on October 18, 2009| Leave a Comment »

harper novSOUNDTRACK: JILL SOBULE-California Years (2009).

caliSo Jill Sobule had the first hit single called “I Kissed a Girl” (that was sung by a woman).  And it was sort of a novelty hit, which is the kiss of death for any songwriter.  After most people forgot about her, I followed her career for a while.  And I found her follow up to “I Kissed a Girl,” Happy Town, to be a superb album and the follow up to that one, Pink Pearl ,was also really good.  And then she fell off my radar.

California Years is the first album that she self-released (and self-financed).  And it finds Sobule in find voice.  Her voice still sounds fantastic: strong and dusky, with a sly wink. When I first listened to the disc, I enjoyed it immensely.  Further listenings have revealed some flaws to me, which have lessened my enjoyment somewhat.  But before I nitpick, I’ll mention the highlights.

The first three songs are just top of the line.  “Palm Springs” opens the disc with a wonderful air of freedom.  “San Francisco” is another cool folky song, typical Jill.  These two are followed by one of Sobule’s excellent rocking/sarcastic/snotty songs, “Nothin’ to Prove” (catchy and snarky!).

After a few tracks, “Wendell Lee” resumes the fun with a list of all the people she’s dated and what they’re up to now.  “Mexican Pharmacy” & “Spiderman” are two fun/funny songs that close the disc nicely.  The final track is a list of all the people who gave her money to make the record.  It’s a catchy little tune even if you’ll never even try to remember the lyrics.

But there are a few clunkers on the disc. “Where is Bobbie Gentry,” when I first heard it, it was fun to guess that Bobbie had written “Ode to Billie Joe” (I didn’t know she had written it).  And this sort of update to that song (which I actually don’t like that much anyhow) sounded like a good idea, but on repeated listens it seems forced and rather silly (especially the “I was the baby…”) line.

There’s another weird song in the middle section: “Empty Glass.”  What’s weird about it is that Sobule doesn’t normally hold notes for very long, she’s more of a quick singer.  And I think her voice doesn’t really hold up to the chorus of “empty glass.”  My final gripe is with “Bloody Valentine” which begins with the exact same chord structure and vocal melody line as the first song on the disc.  Whenever it comes on I start singing “Palm Springs.”  It also ends with a weird little “rocking” section which simply doesn’t suit the disc.

So, overall it’s something of a mixed bag.  But the highs outnumber the lows by a long shot, and the highs are quite high.

[READ: October 13, 2009] “Among the Beanwoods,” “Heather,” “Pandemonium”

I’ve had these stories lying around for quite some time.  When I first saved them it was because I had just read McSweeney’s #24 which had a Donald Barthelme section in it.  I had read these short pieces then, but they didn’t leave that much of an impact on me, so I decided to re-read them now.

“Among the Beanwoods” & “Heather” are from the 1970s.  And “Pandemonium” was written just before his death in 1989.

And it’s here that I admit that I really don’t know all that much about Barthelme (even having read the McSweeney’s issue).   And I can also admit that I don’t really “get ” him. (more…)

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Lee Henderson–“Long Live Annie B.” (The Walrus, October, 2009)

Posted in Boredom, Canadian Content, Canadian Music, Consumerism, Drinking, Lee Henderson, Marriage Trouble, Sex, Short Story, The Beatles, The Trews, The Walrus, Virginity (Loss of) on October 16, 2009| Leave a Comment »

walrusoctSOUNDTRACK: THE TREWS-House of Ill Fame (2003).

trewsAfter listening to the new Trews disc, I popped in their first disc.  Mostly because I thought their first one sounded rawer.  And it does.

House of Ill Fame has the same rock feel as the new one does, but it also feels a lot more garagey.  It rocks harder, with more edge.  The songs are more memorable to me, mostly because they are a little more distinctive.  There’s some songs where the basslines really stand out (when the guitars either drop out or play some lighter riffs).

But overall the disc just feels less polished.  And it’s all the better for it.

Especially because my disc comes with a live EP.  And the band really rocks live.  They play louder, grittier, and with more energy.  These songs really come alive  on the disc.  “Tired of Waiting” one of my favorite songs on the disc, segues very nicely into the Na Na part of “Hey Jude” which is a highlight on the live disc as well.

While No Time for Later is certainly enjoyable, I simply prefer the rawer sound of House of Ill Fame. I’ve not heard the middle disc, Den of Thieves, so I’m not sure if it falls somewhere in between the two or not.  I’m sure the songs are solid though.

[READ: October 12, 2009] “Long Live Annie B.”

This is a dark story set in the winterlands of Saskatchewan.

Annie B. grows up in a destitute part of town with a destitute mom.  With few choices, Annie B., at fifteen, decides to get involved with an older guy.  Just for sex; a non-meaningful relationship.  But despite the casualness Annie B. seems to get a lot out of it, at least in terms of cinematic education.  She and her man watch all kinds of films (primarily horror films, but also foreign ones).

But with one action for him, she decides that she has had enough and breaks up with him. (more…)

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David Foster Wallace–“Crash of ’69” (Between C & D, Winter, 1989)

Posted in Canadian Music, David Foster Wallace, Infinite Summer, Kathy Acker, Short Story, The Trews on October 15, 2009| Leave a Comment »

cdSOUNDTRACK: THE TREWS-No Time for Later (2008).

trewsI was surprised by this disc.  The cover is mildly shocking, but more just tasteless (and one that I won’t leave lying around), but it’s mostly shocking because it is so inappropriate for the music contained within.  The music is such basic rock and roll–the kind that I didn’t think anyone made anymore.  It’s almost retro in its boogie woogie Black Crows style of rock.

I had gotten their first disc, House of Ill Fame when it came out.  That disc is also a simple, rocking disc, but it has rough elements that keep the listener interested.  But No Time is so much more polished it practically shines with smoothness.  It’s funny how a little bit of smoothing can make such a difference.

The 21st century music listener is possibly somewhat aghast at this disc because it is so un-raw, un-edgy, so basic.  And yet for all of its weird retro rock stylings, releasing a record like this in 2009 is rather original.  And I  realize that if I had heard this twenty years ago I would have thought it was a great rock record.  So I put that listening cap on and found out that yes, I could rock out to this disc.

In fact, I feel like after track 4 the disc really takes off:  “Paranoid Freak” is a great rocking tune, and hearkens back to the raw writing style of their first disc (even though the song itself is not raw sounding at all).   “I Can’t Stop Laughing” has a great chorus, one built for arenas.  The only really questionable song is their “political” one, “Gun Control.”  Sure, I agree with the sentiment, but such a pointedly simplistic and, frankly, preachy song isn’t really good for anyone.

It’s become something of a guilty pleasure because I can’t think of a record less cool than this one.  There’s simply nothing here for an indie rocker to latch on to.  And yet I still like it.

But the whole time it’s so hard to imagine that this disc came out in 2009.

[READ: September 27, 2009] “Crash of ’69”

This was an early piece by DFW and here’s the write-up from The Howling Fantods (appreciation just assumed at this point) which tells a pretty interesting origin for this story.

“Crash of ’69”. Between C & D, Winter 1989. [NOTES: Between C & D was an experimental literary magazine literally printed on circa 1989 dot matrix printer-paper and sold in a plastic bag. Finding a copy of “Crash of ’69” (in any shape) took work and many thanks go out to those who tracked it down. That being said, it was kind of a mess. A lovingly restored copy is available here.]

Turns out that there is a book of the Between C & D stories.  I can’t find out very much about it, but I’m going to try and interlibrary loan it and see what else I can discover.  If I’m reading what little information I have correctly, it appears that Kathy Acker & DFW may be published in the same book (which is of course funny given his review of her work here).

But on to this short story.

As with much of his short fiction, “Crash of ’69” comes across as rather experimental.  Each paragraph or so is headed by a character’s name (there are three in total, I think, although the female character’s description in the heading changes each time she speaks. (more…)

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Ludmilla Petrushevskaya-“Hygiene” (Harper’s, October 2009)

Posted in Death, Fables, Harper's, Ludmilla Petrushevskaya, My Morning Jacket, Plague, Short Story, Yuck! on October 14, 2009| Leave a Comment »

harperoctSOUNDTRACK: MY MORNING JACKET-Acoustic Citsuoca (2004).

mmjThere was a lot of fanfare when this EP was re-released recently (at least I think it was re-released; there was a lot of fanfare about it recently whatever the case). This is a live acoustic performance which features 5 songs from MMJ’s earlier recordings.

I’ve become a pretty big fan of MMJ over the last few years, but I haven’t really delved into their back catalog all that much.  As such, this album doesn’t blow me away, because to me, these aren’t different versions of the songs.  They’re just the versions of the songs.

That said, the disc is very enjoyable, and the band, especially Jim James, sound in great form.  If you’re a fan of the earlier discs, this is probably a stellar addition to the collection, especially since (as I’m led to understand) the early discs are full of reverb and all kinds of fun things like that.  And this is a very stripped down recording.   (Although I have to admit that I think “Sooner” sounds an awful lot like “Sweet Jane”).

If you’re new to the band, I recommend either their newer discs or Okonokos, the live disc, where the band really rocks out.  It’s a great introduction to latter day MMJ.

[READ: October 12, 2009] “Hygiene”

scaryThis story is listed as coming from the book There Once Lived a Woman Who Tried to Kill Her Neighbor’s Baby: Scary Fairy Tales.  Which sounds pretty cool.  But I only have this one story to mention.  And, it seems to fit in quite nicely with the title of the book.

“Hygiene” is set in a city in Russia.  As the story opens, a stranger rings the Family R’s door and informs them that a plague is coming.  They should stay housebound, and not speak to anyone.  And, most importantly, they should stay away from mice (who as we all know, are carriers).  He also confides in them that he is one of the few people who has survived the plague.  If they agree to pay him some money he will happily go out and get them supplies on a regular basis. (more…)

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Zsuzsi Gartner-“Summer of the Flesh Eater” (The Walrus, September 2009)

Posted in Canadian Content, Canadian Music, Drinking, Funny (ha ha), Jeffrey Eugenides, Kirsty MacColl, Marriage Trouble, Neko Case, Short Story, Smarty Pants, The New Pornographers, The Walrus, Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me, Zsuzsi Gartner on October 13, 2009| 2 Comments »

walrus-99SOUNDTRACK: NEKO CASE-Middle Cyclone (2009).

nekoI first learned of Neko Case through The New Pornographers.  Their song “Letter from an Occupant” blew me away.  But when I’d investigated her solo work, I learned she was more of a country singer than anything else.  Reviewers said that Middle Cyclone broke from that mold a little into more rock territory.

I don’t know her early stuff, but I can attest that these songs are mildly rocking. However, it’s hard to take the country out of the singer.  There’s something about Neko’s voice on this disc that screams country (even as her songs get faster and more furious).  But, much like k.d. lang who won me over when she broke away from her country roots, so did Neko Case.

Rather than explicit country, Neko case seems to be filling in the shoes of the sorely missed Kirsty MacColl, another great singer-songwriter who melded genres like so much fondue.

Case never hits the manic intensity of “Letter from an Occupant” (she admitted on Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me that her vocals were sped up for that song), but she proves to be a powerhouse singer.  And once I got over the fact that this album didn’t ROCK, I accepted that it was very good.  I don’t know if I have a favorite track, although I do like her cover of Sparks’ “Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth.”

I finally managed to listen to the last track, “Marais la Nuit” all the way through on my lunch the other day.  It is, literally, 30 minutes of frogs and bugs chirping away.  It’s quite relaxing, but not really worth listening to all 30 minutes.

[READ: October 8, 2009] “Summer of the Flesh Eater”

The title is not misleading exactly, but it may make you think zombies are afoot.  But they are not.  (I debated about revealing this, but figured it would win more fans of people who don’t like zombies than lose people who do). (more…)

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The Fifth Column (1996) & The Flexicon (1998)

Posted in A.M. Homes, Albert Goldbarth, Books about writers, Constellation Records, David Foster Wallace, Diane Ackerman, Eric Chenaux, Exquisite Corpse, Funny (strange), Gangsters, Infinite Summer, Irvine Welsh, Jonathan Franzen, Meta, Oddities, Paul Debraski, Poetry, Postmoderism, Rick Moody, Sex, Short Story, Smarty Pants, Susan Daitch, Violence on October 6, 2009| 1 Comment »

coprseSOUNDTRACK: ERIC CHENAUX-Sloppy Ground [CST052] (2008).

sloppy

It took several listens before I fully enjoyed this disc.  There’s something about Chenaux’s voice that is very calming, almost soporific.  And, since his general songwriting style is kind of ambient and almost formless–with no real choruses or even rhythms, the disc tends to get lost in the ether.  There’s also some unusual instrumentation (electric harp & guitarjo (!)) too, which continues the otherworldly feel of the disc.

What really hooked me into the disc though was the three “funk marches” that distinguish themselves from the rest of the disc.  “Have I Lost My Eyes” comes in like a raging gust of fresh air after the first three drifting tracks.  It’s got a strong melody and raw drums that propel this fantastic track.  “Boon Harp” & “Old Peculiar” have a similar strong vibe.  And they are really the anchors of this disc.

The rest of the album isn’t bad, I just find it hard to listen to in one lengthy sitting.  The opening three songs tend to drift a round a little too much.  But one at a time, these songs are pretty cool.

[READ: Last Week of September 2009] The Fifth Column & The Flexicon

These two pieces were part of the list of uncollected David Foster Wallace publications.  The difference with thee two pieces is that he plays a small role along with several other authors.  Both of these pieces are sort of a exquisite corpse idea. Although unlike a true exquisite corpse, (in which the author sees only a little of the end of the previous author’s work) it’s pretty clear that the authors had access to the entire work.  The quotes in bold are from The Howling Fantods.

For a delightful exquisite corpse piece that I authored see the untitled comic strip on my website.  About ten years ago I started an exquisite corpse comic strip and sent it to a number of people who all had a lot of fun continuing the story.  I have finally put it online at paulswalls.com/comic.  (See, artists, I told you I’d do something with the cartoons some day!) (more…)

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