Archive for May, 2010
24 items.
I’ve posted a few words on the “Six Chix” 10th Anniversary, and how we commemorated the occasion at the Reubens Awards over the weekend. Please take a look here!
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Geez, how do you change the batteries in a pacemaker? Has anyone ever died from getting the negative/positive sides wrong? Or is the battery more like those tiny watch batteries from the dollar store? I bet the battery compartment is really hard to open. Slide here. oh shit, now it’s jammed. Gimme something to pry it open with. We’re losing the patient!
I’m not entirely sure if Velia’s ma has a pacemaker. It would be funny if they simply couldn’t remember if she has one or not.
I’ve posted my final entry for “How To Get Your Cartoons Into The New Yorker” Basically it’s about “What They Want”….. please read it at rinapiccolo.com
Phantom Limbs…?
Yeah, this is a typical conversation Velia has with her friend Vicky and boyfriend Lou. A lot like the sorts of exchanges I myself have when getting together with friends in bars. And, boy, what a total wack-job Vicky is turning out to be — always managing to turn an innocent discussion into one of sex, and personal anguish.
Here’s a question I should ask myself: What’s less frustrating — Velia’s life outside of the house with her friends, or the one at home, with ma?
A Rosary is the ideal thing to keep your hands from becoming idle, and perhaps prevent you from doing the devil’s work.
My mother owns more than one set. In my family, rosaries are like clothes. You’ve got your fancy set for special occasions — funerals, weddings. And there’s the business-casual set for prayer circles at neighbors’ homes. At the end of the line is the set that’s kept at home — the laid back rosary that’s beat up and worn in like a comfy pair of old Levis.
There is, I should add, the temporary inexpensive plastic rosary — from the dollar store — for when you’re traveling, or between jobs, or down on your luck.
For the busy, jet-set type there is the abbreviated Rosary — smaller, fewer beads — a quicky, but just as powerful.
For the alcoholic there’s the flask rosary — each bead is a tiny flask containing sacred wine (or Canadian Club Whiskey), whichever your preference.
For the Crack addict….
okay, that’s enough for today.
If you want to read my dumb comic of the day it’s here.
Raised Catholic, I have my share of experiences with nuns…. If you’d like to check out my post about “Sister Marion, The Librarian”, please take a look at rinapiccolo.com
…. And remember, the comic strip “Velia, Dear” is updated with a new strip every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday….. so check back here tomorrow for the continuing craziness.
Today’s Strip… (Remember, “Velia, Dear” updates with a new strip every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday…)
The Toronto Star article about me, my hometown Toronto, and “Velia, Dear” mentions the dualism I have often felt between being born Canadian to immigrant Italian parents. Growing up Canadian/Italian often meant switching gears between living the southern Italian tradition at home, and being exposed to Canadian culture everywhere else. I can tell you this caused no small degree of conflict — much of it hilarious depending on how you look at it. In some way, I believe that this dualism has influenced my sense of humor, and the ways that I’ve chosen to express it through some of my comics.
As the story of “Velia, Dear” unfolds, you’ll see all kinds of references to my Italian/Canadian background. The characters are typically the types of people you’d meet if you lived in the sort of ethnic neighborhood that I grew up in, and their problems are often sparked by the clash of contrasting cultures. Some readers will relate to the comic strip “Velia, Dear” in a personal way –perhaps having had a similar kind of upbringing — while others will be introduced to a world that is unfamiliar and weird in — I hope — a funny and entertaining way.
Today’s strip is typical of the distrust the older members of my family often had to the food of other cultures. According to them, Italian food was the best in the world, and Chinese food consisted of worms and snakes. And if you think that’s pork in the wonton soup, beware. Beware of Dog.
Often, there was a fight when we, the younger generation, disagreed, and ordered chow mein by the gallon.
To balance things out a little I’ll say this. In a restaurant in Italy once, I saw horse on the menu. You think that’s veal in the cannelloni? Beware of secretariat.
Although I love New York, I can’t stand the fact that I’m unable to buy the Toronto Star here! So there’s no way for me to know if my article (about “Velia, Dear”, and how it’s set in Toronto the Good ) appears in the print edition of the Star today — in the Living section. I know that it’s available to read on line, and you can go to it here.
It’s written by Toronto Star writer Nicole Baute, who was kind enough to call me up last Wednesday, interview me, and listen to me whine about how much I miss my hometown Toronto.
Anyway, to any new readers of “Velia, Dear”… welcome. I really hope you enjoy it.
I’ll be posting more later… and maybe whine some more about how I miss ol’ Hogtown.
How To Get Your Cartoons Into The New Yorker (One Cartoonist’s Experience) Part 2
May 21st, 2010 |Posted In: Uncategorized
Finally, Part 2…. read it at rinapiccolo.com
For Part 1, please click here.
