last weekend’s small press expo was pretty fun, obviously, because it was me and james mc shane and mickey z, and that crowd can’t strike out. i traded and sold a lot of stuff, and got a lot of great stuff in return. some points:

“small press” in this instance, means independant comics. i only got one traditional “zine”, and that was from travis fristoe, who was just hanging out, not exhibiting, and would’ve had a fresh copy of his zine for me regardless of where we might’ve met. oh! and the microcosm table! which i was delighted to be so close to. a discussion on zines in an internet age is valid, but not for right now.

the exhibitors were basically split between two mildly overlapping camps– people who A.) find in the form of comics a territory rich for exploration, and people who B.) love comics and maybe they’re hobbyists, maybe they’re professionals, but in any event, they’re interested in using the language more or less as it is writ. needless to say, my concern lies in camp A, the art comics people. B is a nice crowd and they have a sweet, close community whose tininess affords them strength, but i didn’t much trade with them, because i sort of don’t care, beyond loving the tree (and not being a leaf).

the attendees are a nice crowd of artsy goofs, similarly divided into artsy searchers and people for whom certain stories and forms resonate, but, i admit, these divisions are nonsense and everyone really wore a satisfied “here’s us” about them like a laurel. i had a great time watching people go by in all their nerd flag finery– people who have found a community of support and know they can wear all of thier funny clothes at once without some j-hole dropping a double g’ed f-bomb on them. there were A LOT of “hats out of time”: fedoras, top hats, scallies; LOTS of art school girls in crazy leggings and colorful boots; A FAIR AMOUNT of utility kilts and miscelaneous spidery boys in monkey vests and skirts. no out-and-out furries (or furry art that i could see) but one girl went all in with the funky boots/leggings/skirt/top hat and iced the cake with a long furry “reject the anthropomorphic falsehood” tail. it was a total cuddle pile.

the weekend works like this: the first day of shilling stuff in the big convention hall and going to talks, then everyone has dinner in some fashion, then there’s the ignatz awards, then there’s people shmoozing in the lobby for ever, then parties in hotel rooms, then sleep, day two, go home. inbetween the awards (which are kind of important and people get worked up about them) and the shmoozing (the most valuable part of the whole event, as only major operators like nate powell make any money worth speaking of) is the thing people let themselves get really worked up about- the chocolate fountain. no joke, i heard about the chocolate fountain like ten times, and then after the awards and accolades and talking about comics as a medium and what brings us all together today and so on, “now the moment you’ve all been waiting for… the chocolate fountain”.

nate powell won an ignatz award for the second year in a row! congrats nate!!!!

mickey z is great at finding / getting more drink tickets in any convention center bar zone setting.

i got to meet john porcellino, who is a huge inspiration and an amazing artist who smoothly unifies punk and zen and the beauty within. as promised, i got him to sign a cassette of black flag “damaged”. i also met r sikoryak, who i’ve admired for years. charles burns was there but like an idiot i missed him. gahan wilson was there but i missed the boat to get a twisted, ugly-ass sketch from him.

today i was shaving and trying to figure out if i got a bit of sunburn. “is there some way to know if my neck is really red?”. you know, like some sort of series of comedic questions.

start on the street was good, hanging out with purtle, hawking shit. down the road a bit was veronica, and further down was jjbb, ashling, and jean ouida. a good time, but next year for sure we form a tite pack. anyway, the day proved lucrative, which was a relief as i was hard looking all week for actual dimes to rub.

thursday from 6 – 8 there’s an art show at the RISD museum called This Is A Show About Rock n’ Roll. alee peoples has a filmmmm in the show and i’mmmmmmm in the filmmmmmmmmmmmmm eating ice cream like a pro. the show will be up through most of october. also on the movie front, last night i was grabbed to cameo in the new VIDEO VAPORIZER (tsarlos gonzalez) movie… i play a high school prinicipal addicted to rag… typecasting. the movie (“I AM A WITCH”) will most likely premiere in a restaurant basement under a milk-soaked rug at 4am.

oh hey, and this saturday and sunday it’ll be me, jimmy mc shimmy, and zicky mc chili at Small Press eXpo at The North Bethesda Marriott Convention Center in Bethesda, Maryland. breathing the same air as r sikoryak, carol tyler, gahan wilson, and john porcellino!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! whose influence on this event cannot be overstated.

this website got hacked yesterday? or something changed and started displaying links to associated press stories about baseball? don’t know what that’s about, but thanks 2 joanne for spotting it! i think i fixed it? tell me if it’s impossible for you to read these exact words. that i have typed. for display. on this webiste.

OK, here is proof that i am the real jacob berendes and not a machine impersonator– today the real jacob berendes went to see a movie starring carmen miranda. and only THE REAL JACOB BERENDES would know which movie it was… it was… “DOLL FACE”.

ALSO:
QUESTION: did the real jacob berendes sneak in popcorn and soda at the movies?
ANSWER: NO! only the real jacob berendes would know that popcorn and soda (and coffee) is free at this particular movie showing (silver screen classics mondays at 1pm at showcase north $2).

accept no imitations! jacob berendes will not be undersold!

why has this website been down the past few days? i don’t know.

tomorrow, no, SUNDAY, i’ll be back in worcester at the stArt on the street street fair, which is on park ave all late morning into late afternoon. then bone zone is playing at the FYC, which is the store that opened where HBML was, and does things i wouldn’t, like have hardcore bands play. i will be selling t-shirts duh, but i didn’t make enough really, so i also made some stuffed animals to sell, some new designs, some tweaks on an existing design. both are pretty tite.

next week me and strange mc fang and mickey zacchilli are gonna REP at the Small Press eXpo in what, bethesda? in the MID ATLANTIC REGION. we’ll be debuting the new yokai parade magazine (not to be confused with parade magazine).

my time recently has been utilized preparing for these things, plus eating tacos, and watching JAWS, and listening to CONNIE FRANCIS, and telegraphing my punches. and every day, it’s something.

plenty talk about yokai lately– here’s a contemporary japanese spook story, told to me by [i can't recall] and corroborated by sakiko (who was a child in japan not too long ago)–

you are walking down a street and a beautiful lady approaches you. she is wearing a face mask, of the style that became popular around the sars pandemic (this is commonplace in japan). she removes the mask to reveal a lack of flesh under the mask- her teeth and musculature are visible, but in the area covered by the mask there is no skin, no lips. it’s as if a very strong piece of tape were put over her mouth, then ripped off, taking everything with it. she looks at you and asks “AM I PRETTY?”.

if you answer “yes”, she cuts your face.

if you answer “no”, she cuts your face.

the only thing to say is “you look totally normal”, and the lady will become confused and walk away.

uh…

UPDATE of course i heard this from J McS, who got it from this website. i forgot the detail “botched plastic surgery”.

bone zone party van

tonight me and nicky revs drove to pawtucket to see work/death play an awesome and expansive set, and so see the body play with 6 drummers and gus on bass, which was, duh, SIIIIIIICK

the show the other night was OK even though i was unsatisfied with my set, which was nice clean sine waves and transient noise bursts (with announcements), but in stage nervousness i drove the speaker too hard and my attempt at separate things that you add in your mind turned into just one thing already added up. whoops! the rest of the show was good, and i still had fun, and it was good to be on the other side of the table in the “i’m telling you i liked it even though what you were trying for you did not accomplish” arrangement. scott and geoff (ten thousand things) were good, eli and ashley were good, and the canadians were good– two solo guitar rippers, one with screech singing overtones with a jandek feel, the other with a rubbermade item organizer for all the shit he planned to jam in the strings, which is, let’s say it, cute. also he played a flying V with his back to crowd the whole time, never once turning around to be like “check this out”. why not?!?

it was jaybird’s surprise birthday party the other day, it was at a restaurant, there were piña coladas. many more my friend (birthdays, restaurants, maybe or maybe not piña coladas)!

today drawing all day with strange mc fang for the new yokai book which kids are going to LOVE. fully exploring the potential for a buddyspirit with massive nutzzzzzzzz. we’re in furry territory ladies and gentlemens.

readers, my computer is on its last legs– the screen is gone, and every other start up requires a ginger tapping on the side of the case to reconnect the hard drive– it was trying to fix this problem that broke the screen, so i’m loathe to tempt fate again. i’ve got everything (i think) i want off it, and am using it sidesaddle with an old CRT until the last roundup. ANYWAY, as is my custom, i’m putting the call out for people for whom the purchase of a brand new computer has left them computer rich. ideally we’re looking at mac laptops, but would accept anything… i’m not begging here, but if you recently got a new computer, and the old(ish) one is “just sitting around”, this is a good chance to give it a good home with someone who will run it absolutely into the ground. i will trade for artwork, website help, i’ll write you a song and play it at ten shows…

oh! also looking for cast iron pans, an electric kettle, and a coffee grinder, for the new place. and lumber. also, backrubs.

for a week or two my living space intersects with old friend and ace cartoonist CF– i’m getting ready to build a room in a classic factory location, he’s cleaning out his, and in the deal i’m getting lots of great castaways, like a SYNCHROTECH RELAXMAN (a consumer-grade “brainmachine”) and a few scattered comics. also today i told him about “put a donk on it” and then, in working out a set for a show next week, he did indeed “put a bangin’ DONK on it”. true story!