The Evolution of Jolly

 

First Draft on Microsoft Paint.

Re-design of "Jolly" Mega-Mart's mascot for my novel: The People's Republic of Retail. Micron 01 - 08 + Sharpie on Strathmore Bristol Vellum - then scanned & cropped on my HP Deskjet 1055.

2nd Draft - on Microsoft Paint.

Voila - Here's "Jolly". In my novel, The People's Republic of Retail, Jolly is a cartoon character Mega-Mart uses in their commercials and as part of their branding - in order to put a "sunny" sheen over their dark practices.

Final Draft.

Variant 1.

Choose Your Own Adventure Variant.

Choose Your Own Adventure Variant Detail.

From Sarasota to Red Bank and Back!

From Sarasota to Red Bank and Back!

In four days, from July 8 - 11, 2017, we traveled from Sarasota, Florida to Red Bank, New Jersey. Our mission was to see King Crimson play live at the Count Basie Theatre on July 9th and to visit the Comic Book Men at Jay & Silent Bob's Secret Stash and visit some of the Clerks sights in Leonardoville, New Jersey. It was a rousing success.

Tickets Please!

King Crimson played two shows. We caught the first one.

Pat Mastelotto, Gina and Me.

Here we are in front of the Quick Stop where Kevin Smith shot Clerks.

Inside the Quick Stop.

The Circus Clown you can see in Clerks II.

David Byrne performing "Nothing But Flowers" at the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank. This song was featured in Clerks II.

Gina and Mike with the Comic Book Men at Jay & Silent Bob's Secret Stash. We got to be extras in an upcoming episode in Season 7. When you see someone trying to sell a Han Solo Blaster, look for us thumbing through comics in the background.

Coda

Actors Who Have Played William S. Burroughs

Actors Who Have Played William S. Burroughs

Peter Weller in Naked Lunch (1991)

Dennis Hopper in The Source (1999)

Kiefer Sutherland in Beat (2000)

Viggo Mortenson in On The Road (2012)

Ben Foster in Kill Your Darlings (2013)

J.G. Ballard Playlist

J.G. Ballard Playlist

1. Hawkwind - High Rise
2. The Fall - Industrial Estate
3. The Buggles - Vermilion Sands 
4. Madonna - Drowned World/Substitute
5. Gary Numan - Down In The Park
6. Joy Division - Atrocity Exhibition

The Great Pumpkin Incident

A few years back, right before I was supposed to have spinal surgery, I was reaching under the television for the cat when the LED pumpkin that was perched precariously atop fell and cracked my noggin. Ended up with a black eye. The bone underneath still feels weird to this day.

That Sinking Feeling

Sinkholes Around The World

There are two basic types of sinkholes: (1) A cover-subsidance sinkhole and (2) a cover-collapse sinkhole.

A sinkhole near Brisbane, Australia.

Guatemala Sinkhole

Most are naturally occurring, but humans can contribute.

Why Sinkholes Open Up

Harwood Hole - Abel Tasman National Park, New Zealand. 183 m deep.

The Devil's Hole sinkhole near Hawthorne, Florida.

Teiq Sinkhole - Oman, Jordan. One of the largest sinkholes in the world by volume - 90 million cubic meters. 250 m deep.

Blue Hole - Dahab, Egypt. 130 m deep on the edge of the Red Sea. Free diving attempts often prove fatal.

Bahmah Sinkhole in Oman, Jordan.

Sinkhole Swallows Florida Man

A helicopter hovers over a sinkhole that's 120-feet wide and 180-feet deep in a gypsum stack at IMC-Agrico's New Wales plant, southwest of Mulberry, Fla., on June 29, 1994. (Scott Wheeler/Reuters)

The Great Blue Hole is a giant submarine sinkhole off the coast of Belize. 

Sinkhole Swallows Two Homes, Threatens More in Tampa.

Character Breakdown & Vocabulary from PKD's "The Crack In Space"

Character Breakdown & Vocabulary from PKD's "The Crack In Space"

Dateline - 2080

Herb Lackmore - Oakland Branch of the U.S. Dept. of Special Public Welfare

Lurton D. Sands jr. - Famous Org Trans Surgeon, getting divorced from...

Myra - Abort Consultant

Cally Vale - Lurton Sands' mistress

Tito Cravelli - Private Investigator hired by Myra to dig up dirt on her husband

Darius Pethel - Owns Pethel Jiffi Scuttler Sales & Service

Stu Hadley - His salesman

Rick Erickson - Repairman for Pethel Jiffi Scuttler Sales & Service

James Briskin - Republican Liberal candidate for president. Black.

Salisbury Heim - His campaign manager

Patricia Briskin - His wife

Phil Danville - His speech writer

Bruno Mini - Failed Terraformer

Frank Woodbine - Famous space explorer

William Schwartz - State's Rights Conservative Democrat incumbent

Verne Engel - runs CLEAN (like the TEA Party)

Thisbe Olt - Golden Door Moments of Bliss Satellite

George Walt - 2 headed proprieter on the Satellite

VOCABULARY

Newsclown - A person who delivers specially selected light news.

Aristotle's Law of the Excluded Middle

Wozzeck by Berg

Islands of Langerhans 

Pyloric Spasms 

10 Great PKD Stories That Hollywood Hasn't Filmed Yet

SFFaudio Podcast: The Crack In Space