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As the full moon ascends we celebrate the topsy turvy nature of life with Purim. This holiday is the Jewish spin on a global rejoicing of the Spring to come. Persian New Year, Chinese New Year, Mardi Gras and Purim coincide by weeks as each culture celebrates the fool as the king and then imbibe lots of booze. I celebrated the break-fast of Taanit Esther with the opening of my show in NYC at the Yeshiva University Museum, in a blizzard. Then, I enjoyed the Tim Burton exhibit at the MoMa. Marveled at Central Park under a foot of snow and then boozed it with friends and watched Olympic curling. Today, I presented the art history of the Book of Esther to a dozen members of suburban synagogue outside of Philly. And so it was written in the Blog of My Days on Purim 14 Adar, 5770

This weekend WB Studios pushed back the release of their next comic book adaptation The Losers. The special ops team gone rogue will now premiere just a week before the updated A-Team movie. As a former high school classmate of Bradley Cooper, I have this message for him…”YOU BACKED THE WRONG HORSE!” Had Mr. Cooper had a more savvy agent he would have counseled Hollywood’s new It Boy to do the OTHER rogue special ops team flick. The Losers deals with topics more au courant than the A-Team and I predict the film will have more success.

Last week at this time I was meeting Harvey Pekar at the Cleveland Heights Public Library on Lee Road. We sat in the front foyer by the vending machines and the books that were for sale. Harvey introduced me to Carole, one of the librarians. He encouraged me to look over the books and assured me that there were some good finds here. I bought Sports in Cleveland: An Illustrated History for 50 cents. Oddly, the book is full of old photos without an illustration in sight. Later that day Harvey took me to a great Italian market in a warehouse and then to the amazing Zubal Books. That was day two of my three day trip to CLE.

What’s Up Everybody!?

Apologies for the lapse in blogging. I have been riding the winds of change and Twitter has done a better job of capturing the ideas emanating from my brain and fingers. Here we are back at my little node of the Interwebs, and for those of you out there listening here’s some exciting news … the Drawing on Tradition exhibit is moving north to the Yeshiva University Museum in NYC! Nearly 50 original pieces from Megillat Esther are included in the show. Look for it Feb - Aug in downtown NYC. Tell your peeps~

HoboDarkseid and TimeLostBatman are the latest examples of fan-fiction transmedia hijacking brand name properties from the corporate establishment. Each of these Twitter accounts takes on the personality of a comic book character and adds their own wacky dialogue to the twitterverse. DC would never have Batman philosophizing with Aristotle or kicking ass in Sodom and Gamora, but now fans can live out this and other geeky fantasies. Will Desperate Housewife Snow White and Tipsy Popeye make a comeback as Twitter personalities?! It’s only a matter of time and imagination.

I’m currently rereading Ex Machina. I’m up to issue #20 or so, when Journal dies. I also just picked up the latest issue, # 46. So I am reading a time jumping story at two different narrative points. Cool! I have to say, the story does a good job of keeping plot-lines tight and continuous. For example, Agent Warren, the lesbian FBI agent who thanks Major Hundred on behalf of her girlfriend for his stance on gay marriage during issue # 8 or so reveals to the Mayor in the latest issue that she and her wife don’t have to worry about the morning-after-pill. Awesome!

So more people are talking about how neuroscientists are finding that information is more effectively recalled when the ideas are delivered as text and pictures instead of text by itself. Not only does this point to the secrets of Steve Jobs PowerPoint presentations, it also points to why I always think of a fallen Professor X cradled by Cyclops when I see or hear the word pyrrhic. Comix have blazed Norse mythology and other uncanny words into my brain…duh!?

With the success of District 9-props to VFS alumni who worked on the film-a new creative path has been blazed. An FX designer had a dope idea and executed it amazingly. No need for a resume, maybe just the right connections…and boom, a micro movie is transformed into an international box office smash. The success of District 9 gives dreamers an example of hope and success. Yes we can, come up with wacky ideas and pour our heart and soul into it and roll the dice to win big. You don’t need marquee celebrities or Hollywood, you need a brilliant idea, brilliantly executed. And make it small…it will have more punch!

Yeah, so I went to high school with a bonafide movie star. And though he never acted in school he has gone on to become a rising star in romantic comedies!? But what’s cooler is that a dude from my own grade is now a veritable architectural rockstar! Geoff Manugh’s, BLDGBLOG now also a banging book from Chronicle is one of the leading visionaries in archectural and urban design!? Who knew that the kid who published the first underground Zine I ever saw (10th grades awesomely titled…No More Shit) would go on to such heights. Rock on Geoff! Check out his blog and book too!

This weekend marks the 15th anniversary of the release of Deee-Lite’s third and final studio album, Dewdrops in the Garden. No other LP embodies the optimism, vibe, and tempo of my young adult life more than this album. The lascivious lyrics, the low-fi blend of hip-hop, house, and funk and the undeniable chispa of lead singer Lady Miss Kier make this disc sound surprisingly contemporary. But then again, I am completely biased since no other record has been played from start to finish more than this one. There’s so much more to these cats than Groove is in the Heart.