Verdict on The iBorg

Well the results are in, apparently, and my comic won! Except that it didn't win any of the top three awards. It won one of the other "almost there" awards.  I get $20 out of it though.  And the comic should be appearing on Student Affairs' web site at some other time.

Art as more than mere aesthetics

Artist profile: Sanit Khewhok

By Will Caron
Editor in Chief

Published: Monday, November 8, 2010 Ka Leo O Hawaii

Without civilization, artists would be nothing more than hunter-gatherers. With that in mind, it is important for artists to use their skills to benefit society. At least, that's what Sanit Khewhok, the 11th recipient of the Catharine E. B. Cox Award for Excellence in the Visual Arts, says.

"If you're living in society, I think [being political] is important. Otherwise would it be useful if art didn't serve [a purpose]?" said Khewhok at our interview outside of the Kahala Whole Foods.

"If we have senses, you cannot avoid what we call art," said Khewhok.

Video Coverage of the Hawaii elections now available

Ka Leo O Hawaii may have made history this past Tuesday night by being the first team to partner with the Student Video and Film Association (SVFA) and send camera crews to both gubernatorial candidate's headquarters to document the evening.

It is now available at the Ka Leo website:
http://www.kaleo.org/multimedia/video/hawai-i-election-coverage-2010-1.2395517

The Puppet Master and his Toy - also, an article for your perusal

Caught in the quagmire: the life and times of a despondent democrat

The hazy fun of summer is a great recipe for forgetting what happened in the 1st Congressional District last semester, but if you think back hard enough, the picture should come in to focus.

The Democrats, divided between Democratic Party-bred Colleen Hanabusa, and the more centrist, independent Ed Case, managed to defeat themselves in a special election, and let Republican Charles Djou waltz right into the position.

Tomorrow, the Democrats, with help of their constituents, have another chance to defeat Djou in the general election. All we have to do is check the little box next to ‘Hanabusa.' But should we?

Penny Arcade-style artwork.

It's always interesting to me to see how people react to emulation (not to be confused with immolation).  I've publicly acknowledged my appreciation for and idolization of Mike Krahulik's artwork (and Jerry Holkins' writing too) and have admitted openly that I'm influenced a lot by Penny Arcade in general to the point of emulating their style.

Something else I've been thinking about...

The very day Joe Biden proclaimed U.S. support for Israel, the Israeli government announced the planned construction of new Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank (which goes against every joint report the U.N. has filed on the matter - good thing the Israeli's have the U.S. security council veto in their pocket).  If these settlements are to be built on land that was, before the 6-day war, Palestinian land, what has to happen first? Clearly the houses that are already there (the ones that, according to Israel do not have the proper zoned building permits - because they were built before Israel came up with that law) will be demolished.

Israel knows that if a two state solution ever happens (which it probably won't - not while the U.S. is stacking the deck in Israel's favor) the borders will be drawn based on who's actually living where.  So their strategy is to knock down Palestinian houses and put up their own as quickly as possible in order to "legitimize," in some bastardized sense, their claims to the land. The zoning laws and Israeli-only highways that divide the West Bank into segments are also part of this strategy.  It's a basic geopolitical strategy and the main reason it works is because the U.S. media reports it in a way that favors Israel.  Calling the illegal settlements "neighborhoods" evokes a totally different feel than "occupied territory" does. It's the same reason U.S. media reports of violence are always "Israeli retaliation" and never "aggression."

126. Meanwhile, In Arizona

We all know that illegal immigrants from Latin America wear burritos on their feet. Whereas legal immigrants from the same region wear enchiladas. Footwear isn't, like, a cultural thing, or an economic thing - it's an issue of legality.  The governor of Arizona (I think it was her) advised her police force to look out for “illegals” on this very premise! And everyone knows that she knows what the hell she's talking about.

As for smugglers, well they tend to masquerade as illegal immigrants in that they also wear burritos on their feet.  Hey, they're both doing something illegal right? One's trying to make a better future for themselves and for their families, and, you know, the other is pumping millions of dollars of illegal narcotics into our country, corrupting our youth and worsening an already bad poverty line.  Totally the same thing, guys.

5. QDC#5: May 8th, 2009 - "Loss"

The following is from the quarterdown.com article of the same name and can also be found here.

I feel it is in the interest of my reputation (whatever that’s worth) as an artist to say a little something about this comic. First of all, I did not have a seizure or a stroke of any kind that led me to draw and color in this manner, despite appearances to the contrary.

2009-2010 BOP Awards

The Board of Publications for the University of Hawaii at Manoa presented their awards for Excellence in Journalism tonight for the past academic year.
There are number of different categories ranging from news briefs, to photo portraits to comics.  The entries are judged by various distinguished members of the Honolulu Advertiser and the Honolulu Star Bulletin.
This year I was fortunate enough to win first place in the Editorial Cartoons category for my cartoon entitled
"Zippity-Doo-Dah".
In the Comics category I managed to walk away with second place for my comic entitled "The Really Important Stuff".
And lastly, in the Graphic Illustration, which is an illustration whose purpose is to accompany and enhance an article in the paper, I won first place for "Bowser V. Midbus".

The End

Well that raps up the centipede chronicles. I'm fresh out of material. Thanks for reading. I hope you laughed, cried, raged, sighed and became severely dehydrated just as much as I did from this experience.

What's that? You're sad that it's all over? Well don't sob too much because...

"The Sun Also Shines on the Moronic" will remain in full color for as long as my WACOM holds out!

So... you know... that's something, then, in't?

Let the Centipede-Apocalypse Begin

Breaking News! The centipede chronicles, titled "In Our Darkest Nightmares," will be produced in full color!

Online Release Date for the first strip: Friday, November 13.
Print Release Date: Monday, November 16.

Aren't you glad you read online?

Ka Leo News: The Return of the Sh@t

Any of you who have been familiar with Ka Leo over the past two semesters will remember the work of Toby Idian.  Dirty, simple, devious and hilarious, his little "cyanide and happiness" reminiscent stick figure buffoons make a comeback this Thursday in the Comics section.

Holy, sweet, golly moses! It's hyphens, Batman!

If you like centipedes or centipede-related shenanigans, or great discounts on centipedal toys, hats, shirts and negative-polarity, graviton death-rays, or just some good old-fashioned centipede in the face and / or brain-stem, November will be a great month for you.

Seriously.

You'll love it. Read everyday. Even when the blog isn't updated. You read that shit again and again until it is.