The last few weeks have been filled with family, festivities, and even a little surprise Solstice performance for the Comfort & Joy Camp. It does pains us, however, to welcome the New Year with such loss. R.I.P. Teddy Pendergrass and all the souls down in Haiti. Please take some time to reflect with Mr. Pendergrass’ voice. Planet Booty returns to the stage this month Jan. 29th @ the Blue Macaw. Video and details soon…

On Route 5, heading north of San Francisco towards Mount Shasta.

I taught a ten-week comics class to five rad sixth graders this spring.

But, you say, I thought you were too busy to do anything outside your job? Well, Citizen Schools actually bussed the students to the Googleplex.

The result is 32 pages of comics awesomery covering topics as diverse as sausage with utters, bacon with hands, samurai pigs, the non-knowing bear, and global warming. On second thought, all these topics seem pretty closely related.

The Ultra Super Google Comic Collection (pdf 2.7mb)

A hearty thank you to Jessie Grace and Andy (pictured above) for putting me up in Portland for the 2008 Stumptown Comics Fest. (You really ought to check out Andy’s righteous folk rock band Bark Hide and Horn!) Thanks also to Cal Wong and Hellen Jo for the continual inspiration and letting me tag along.

Check out this inspirational interview with design great and friend Frank Olinsky at Spraygun.

Every once in a while, a good shufflin’ on the ol’ iPod will uncover some forgotten treasures. One such occasion took place this past weekend while some comrades and I were sat down for a game of The Settler’s of Catan. As I was in the midst of this heroic conquest of commerce and diplomacy, the sweet trance-inducing sounds of The Congos came wafting from the speakers. There’s not much to be said about the Lee Perry produced dub masterpiece that hasn’t already been said. But the next time you find yourself desperate for a Mineral and one of your “friends” won’t trade with you because they know you’re going to win and you are forced to helplessly watch as sweet victory gets ripped right out of your hands, put this on and imagine the island of Catan as a psychedelic paradise filled with mystery and intrigue, not a soul crushing pit of treachery and despair.

congoman.mp3 from “The Heart of the Congos”