New Year’s Eve : THE QUICKENING!
Doesn’t it blow your mind that Dick Clark is back hosting anything after his stroke? Well, I think it’s pretty cool. And I was having some deep thoughts yesterday.
We were visiting my Wife’s Grandparents in their rest home where they live– I hate rest homes, but at least the place they’re in is really nice– it better be! Heck, one of their sons was like the president of Kodak or something like that….. ANYWAY, these people are the nicest old people on earth. I always feel guilty visiting them, because deep down, I feel like I’m just a big pile of shit on the universe. But her whole family LOVES me, like I’m some God’s gift to their granddaughter/daughter, etc…. which, my wife TOTALLY knows better… but it’s funny in a cute way.
Her Grandad made an awesome living as an old school carpenter, building houses with his bare hands the old school 40’s and 50’s way. He built their own house they lived in, two of them I think actually. Seeing guys like this in their twilight…. geez, it just kinda hurts my heart a little. He’s always called his wife, “Bud”. And everyone says how cute it is that he still does that.
My wife says that maybe some day our grandkids will say how cute it is that I still call her “Dude.”
I’ve never known what to say to the guy when he asks me what I do– but he was always accepting of it, even though he never really understood how it all worked. And, well, he’s old… so he’ll ask me the SAME things, you know? So, I always have to answer that question with him.. because, like I said, this guy is OLD SCHOOL people, and old timers LOVE to talk it up with other men about their professions. So, today, he asked me for probably the 30th time since I’ve known him…
“What kind of work do you do?”
And I always freeze for sec and think of words that sound better than the word…. I said…
“Oh, I do Illustrations.”, making a sweeping drawing in the air motion with my hand.
“Landscaping?” he replied, as he misheard what I had said.
“No, uhm, Drawings on paper. Of people, and uhm, Buildings and things.”
“Oh, that’s nice.”
And then he drifted off and probably forgot what we just talked about.
In the back of my head, when someone asks me what I do… I just don’t know what to say. Something whispers at me to say
“Oh, Me? You know that guy who doodled in class and never cared about school or a proper college education or career path, and mocked everything along the way? Yeah, I’m that guy.”
Of course that’s all in my insecure mind. I’m a CARTOONIST!
Boy, I’m rambling on here… but the reason I was talking about all of this. Today was the day it hit me. The fact that there’s never really been a clear divide between generations. People die, people replace them, and the world goes on. But suddenly… you can see this old world dying off in front of you. The obsolete Industrial Age, replaced with the high tech Internet Age (I guess that’s what they call it) — And it’s true. My wife’s grandfather would not be impressed if I told him that my radio was beamed in from outer space. BUT MY FUCKING RADIO IS BEAMED IN FROM OUTER FUCKING SPACE, MAN!
So, thinking about their generation, and New Year’s– I got to thinking how they had Dick Clark… we get Ryan Seacrest…. and suddenly the world just doesn’t seem right to me anymore. WTF? They had Johnny Carson… we get Conan… well, that’s ok by me I guess. But still, you get my drift. Soon, we’re ALL going to be flying this ship with no experts to guide us. And, frankly, that scares the shit out of me.
As I’m dwelling on all this stuff while visiting the elders….
I’m thinking about Ryan Seacrest cutting off Dick Clark’s head, Highlander style.
And it makes me smile.
And I know everything is going to be okay.
Thanks for being here in 2005 people.
Happy New Year!
Recent Topics: New Year’s Eve 2005, 2005, New Year’s, Dick Clark, Ryan Seacrest, Highlander
December 30th, 2005 at 3:34 am
If that was the show, I would so watch that…:D
December 30th, 2005 at 6:36 am
Wow, loved the strip. Your comments were very moving, and that’s not ment as sarcasm either. The future is kinda scary.
December 30th, 2005 at 6:38 am
I second Hammer… Excellent commentary..
Happy New Year, Deej.. God Bless You and Yours, In all the years to come..
December 30th, 2005 at 6:49 am
I lost you about ” MY RADIO IS FUCKING BEAMED DOWN FROM SPACE, MAN! “. But All Very moving for me.
December 30th, 2005 at 6:52 am
Oh and the random costume change and the get the fuck outta here off the tie. Nice work DJ!
December 30th, 2005 at 8:32 am
That strip was twenty shades of awesome. Love the color techniques!
December 30th, 2005 at 10:13 am
Ryan Seacrest, a… a… a badass? I’m not sure if I can accept… oh, my head, I think I need to lay down. I think my mind has been blown.
Great Dick joke, by the way. A lot of people say it’s the lowest form of humor, but they really don’t know the skill it takes to pull one off — joke, that is, not a… well, you know.
December 30th, 2005 at 10:17 am
Today’s strip was freakin’ awesome, DJ. Regarding your rant it is frustrating how a large part of society doesn’t put any value on art. I’ll be approached by someone who wants an oil painting or airbrush portrait of a loved one. This will take several hours to complete at a rate of (being conservative) $30 per hour I tell them it will cost them a couple hundred dollars. Their response (almost universal) is “Oh, I was thinking more along the lines of $25.” Yeah, I was thinking more along the lines you can fuck yourself. People think because we like to draw we shouldn’t charge anything because it’s fun, with no consideration of our time. So, regarding your rant, how does one determine success? Well, your wife’s grandparents son who was a president at Kodak, how many people know his name? So he made some cool green (nothing wrong with that) but you’re doing what you love to do and you have tens of thousands of people checking your stuff out daily. I’ve brought up your name in conversation on several occassions with my friends and co workers, talking about one of your strips and how funny it was. So, some schmo from Oklahoma talks about you like he knows you, as I’m sure thousands of other fans do. I’d say that is pretty successful. And if your strip gets picked up by Adult Swim (or the likes thereof) as a replacement for some of the dinosaurs like South Park, and you become rich I’d say that’s success. The worst fate in the universe is doing something you hate (like being a corporate executive) just for the money and not pursing your dreams. Dream on, DJ, because you kick ass. Sorry for the long reply.
December 30th, 2005 at 10:38 am
Drew, how the hell do you keep surpassing yourself? Working a highlander joke into a strip
about dick clark? How do you keep doing this?
Screw Bob, yirmumah has been gone from mildly amusing to internet CLASSIC since you ditched his ungratful ass!
Solid gold ever since that little bunny dropped his first f-bomb, I tells ya.
I can’t donate, but I’m gonna kiss your ass something terrific to make up for it!
December 30th, 2005 at 10:50 am
Be gentle, Blue Eagle. Be gentile.
December 30th, 2005 at 11:09 am
The problem I see you having, and now I do as I read your “rant”, is that our cultural icons don’t have any staying power. They are the “flavor of the month” and will soon be forgotten. Dick Clark was doing American Bandstand for decades. Johnny Carson the same. Now it’s all quick fame, wring all the cash and endorsements, etc. I can out of it, disappear quietly into the VH1 “Remember the (insert decade here)”.
Today’s comic illustrates your conflict. Seacrest replaces Clark. Seacrest couldn’t carry Clark’s shoes but that’s that TODAY’S culture demands. What you desire, I believe, was to have Clark slice off Seacrest’s head and say something like “I’m the fucking man! You want this gig, you’re gonna have to earn it!”
So yeah, we’re going to be lead by culturally hollow idiots. Hopefully one or two won’t be that bad and have some staying power.
December 30th, 2005 at 11:47 am
Radio beamed in from OUTER space? I’m not a spaceologian, but I suspect that your radio would be beamed in by satellite, and if our satellites exist in OUTER space I wonder what sliver of space isn’t “outer”. So I’m going to assume that “outer” space is really the part of space outside our solar system or something like that. And I don’t know of any radio being beamed in from there. Put that in your ointment and rub it against your butt cheeks.
If I was a damn dirty American I might be able to relate to those two guys in today’s strip, but I’m not. And I think I can live with that. We get Letterman and Leno here though, so I’m going to guess that we DON’T get those other two guys because they’re just not worth importing. Or maybe we’ve got our own versions. Yeah, that’s probably it. We do have our own little mini-version of Letterman, with some added quirkiness.
December 30th, 2005 at 12:04 pm
“Outer space” refers to anything outside a planet’s atmosphere. So satellites are indeed in outer space.
December 30th, 2005 at 3:55 pm
DJ, on the note of trying to explain to the grandparents what you do for a living, have you ever just told him you’re a stip cartoonist? I’m sure he remembers the newspaper strips of his younger days, and that’s really exactly what you do. And if he understands what a computer is at all, (which from the way you describe him, he very well may or may not), you can tell him you make cartoon strips that people can look at on their home computer.
This probably won’t help a bit, but hey, ’tis worth a shot.
December 30th, 2005 at 8:58 pm
Ryan Seacreast… another bogus celbritant like Paris Hilton — totally talentless in every way… doesn’t matter though, they’re “famous for being famous”. It’s like whatever the hell Jessica Simpson’s sister — gets busted lip synching on SNL — but it doesn’t matter… they’ve paid for the posters and CDs, so she’ll be “famous” anyway. Celebrities used to have to earn their fame… now the industry just decides so-and-so will be famous now and they spam up the TV with their stupid faces telling us everyone else cares about them. Do they really? In the age of space-radio, are these type of celebrities still relevant, or are people finding more niche-specific micro-celebrities (Hi DJ!)? OR are people stupid sheep that love this stuff and eat it up yum? Am I becomming old and bitter? When will Christopher Lambert show up accompanied by a Queen soundtrack to finish this guy off? Why did they bother making sequels to that movie anyway? Only one guys… only ONE.
Happy New Year DJ.
December 31st, 2005 at 3:25 am
Wow, the coloring and such in this strip “rocks” my “socks” off.
I just hope one day, we will have people with the staying power as Dick Clark has had. I also hope to one day see a DJ presents “Fake Celebrity Battle To The Death” involving all fake celebrities alive. Personaly I want to see that on tv as well where we vote on how the winner dies as well. I must admit, seeing how you would do it would be pure bliss (And you could sue saying you came up with it, no wait. Shit, Celebrity Deathmatch. Oh well, this couldn’t infringe, it’s not real celebrities).
I don’t make much sense, so what. I’m hyper and chain smoking right now.
January 1st, 2006 at 9:03 am
Good thing i didnt read this yesterday, I would have been yelling highlander quotes all night.
Im not an addict of the films. it’s just got some bad ass quotes…. well ok, it has one bad ass quote.
Instead, i was doing cannonball run jokes….. maybe highlander would have been better.
And for those of you who say cannonball run sucks, you can kiss my ass.
Before i drift off any further im just going to end it with Happy new year you crazy bastards