February 7, 2008
Woke up to sad news: Gus Arriola, the creator of one of my favorite comic strips, Gordo, has died. He was 90. One of my favorite books is Accidental Ambassador Gordo which was published in 2000 and chronicles the arc of the superb graphics created by Arriola for his strip. As the paper noted, "The Sundy strip was a stunning composition of lively line work and dazzling colors." And I agree, some of the frames "stood alone as abstract artworks."

Last month I spent a day shadowing Gordo for linework clues (i.e. poaching like a Crazed Copy Cat Goober). I'll post those efforts this afternoon.

In other cartoonist news, Bill Schorn showed up at our offices about ten minutes ago and asked for me, saying "J.D. sent me to say hi to Triple B." When I went up front Bill was busy signing up for a subscription (thanks J.D.!) and we got to talking. When he told me he was originally from Saint Paul, I asked him if he knew the Schulze's as in Charles Schulz of Peanuts fame. And Bill said in that midwestern twang, "Oh shore. His dad told me in his barber shop one time, his son would be famous some day, and he shore was." Amen to that.

I haven't heard from Alan Huffines lately, and that's because he has been deploying:

"I am living on CAMP VICTORY (Baghdad) and working in Al-Faw Palace (which looks like a low budget sword and sandals set). Not bad though, have my own room and inside plumbing. Last time I was here I lived in the desert in a Bedouin tent for eight months and no modern utilities within hours.

"Read Boggs' comments on There Will Be Blood. As you know I loved it and am delighted there are movies being made outside the typical 'three-act character arc' model. All three excellent period films this year managed to do this successfully. Otherwise we would have had Anton with a kitten or puppy fetish."

—ALAN C. HUFFINES

Shot Thru The Heart, Baby!
Another movie Alan and I both loved is coming out on DVD today: The Assasination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is out with the High-definition HD DVD and Blu-ray releases of the film to follow on February 26. The DVD is $27.95 and the Blu-ray and HD DVD is $35.99. I loved this movie so much I'll probably get both.

"When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world."
— John Muir