Pastor

Someone sent me a link to the youTube video of the pastor of the infamous Westboro Baptist Church ranting that the Arizona shootings were God's way of punishing us for our "sins". I won't put the link here; you can find it easily enough yourself. My point is that I decided to watch it, much the way one looks at a horrible accident even though one wants to look away.

I used a technique I learned years ago, at mime school, of all places. I don't recall why we got around to discussing watching TV commercials, but Tony Montaro, the brilliant teacher and mime, told us that when he watched commercials, he would just let himself "zone out", and struck a blank--and very funny--facial expression. The idea, he said, was that you could let all the frantic and/or subversive messages of the ad wash over you and just ignore them. (This, I should point out, was in the days before remotes and DVR's, when one could only avoid a commercial by getting up, going over to the TV, and turning the sound or TV off--or by leaving the room.)

So I turned on the reverend's video and watched blankly. As I felt the anger begin to rise, I told myself that he was beneath contempt and not worth the effort...and, lo and behold, I felt myself relax. I watched the whole thing, heard all the words, marveled at the utter lack of compassion, awareness and Biblical understanding of this man, but I was able to avoid the overwhelming outrage that I might normally feel.

People on all sides of the issues generally seem to feel that political dialogue in America has become largely impolite and impolitic. Perhaps if many of our elected officials employed what I'm calling the Montaro Zone-Out Technique when they see or hear opposing views, they might tender their responses more rationally. I can picture a representative or senator listening to a fellow member of Congress whose views are directly opposite his or her own, and letting a blank expression wash over his or her face. It could make for great TV, although the Technique might occasionally be mistaken for dozing off or daydreaming. Then, as the life returned to the eyes, the measured response would be based on a sifting of the essence of the opponent's statements, not having allowed oneself to get sucked into the emotional reaction that might normally muddy the debate.

Interesting how tragedies beget waves of civility. In the aftermath of 9/11, football commentators consciously stopped using terms like "slaughter," "killing" and "decimation." Crime dropped sharply in NYC, and other places as well, at least for a while. Regardless of what did or didn't cause the shooter to do this, we can use it as a reminder to back off. Someone can disagree with you without being a liar; someone can interpret information differently without being a villain.

QlownTown online

QlownTown has arrived! The site is up and running, and the response has been overwhelming. I thought I'd feel somewhat ambivalent when it finally went live, since it took so long to get there. But the moment I was told that everything was ready and I could announce, I was thrilled! The whole day was spent excitedly sending out e-mails and Facebook announcements. One of my favorite e-mails of all those I received in response to the announcement was "Qongratulations". I've tried to avoid overusing Q as a replacement for C or K, so I was amused to see it appear where I wouldn't have thought to put it. I wrote back, "very qlever".

Now I want to write a QlownTown song, and maybe do a video for uTube. I already have the first two lines: "Everybody sing and dance/kick your partner in the pants." I mean this to be in the butt, not front, so don't start injuring other people in the name of QlownTown.

I'd like to animate it, but that'd be a lot of work--something which I try to avoid if possible. But dressing people up as clowns and taping them would be a lot, too. I may just draw stills to illustrate the tune. I predict a one-year turnaround...glaciers and I move slowly.

Someone commented that she likes the colorful look of the cartoons. I had actually noticed that they were brighter than most, and thought about trying to tone them down. You see, as I go along coloring them, I do whatever color seems appropriate for the item I'm filling in, rather than choosing an overall theme first. And drawing clowns, it seems only natural to do a red nose, orange hair, loud clothes. If it's a clown house, shouldn't the floors be purple, or the walls be pink? So it often winds up bright. But I decided it's nice to have that distinctive feature.

When it came to coloring the "Clown mobsters" cartoon, however, I realized it was still in black and white (I scan the ink drawings in grayscale, then switch to color mode), and decided that particular strip looked best in b&w--the whole noir look. Of course, the pies in the violin case might not obviously appear to be pies to some people, but I'll take that chance. And as time goes by, if I'm behind schedule, I may just leave a cartoon black and white...but coloring them is a lot of fun.

I guess in some ways I've never progressed beyond the little kid with crayons and a coloring book. If I am someday able to hire someone to color them for me, won't that be a cool job to get paid to do? There's probably a cartoon in that.

Speaking of cartoon ideas, if you have any suggestions, please post or email me. I'd love to do strips that apply to particular occupations, services, sports, etc. I can't pay, but you'll get to see your idea online if it's used. You could even buy it on a T shirt or whatever, and tell people it's a professionally-drawn custom cartoon that was done for you from your idea.