The Seven Deadly Sinners

Halloween Art Party

Dear friend of art and cartoons--

You are cordially invited to a Halloween Art Party sponsored by the Friends of the Nib, Seattle's foremost art collective with "Nib" in the title.

Come eat, drink, and enjoy strange and wonderful artwork. Pick up the latest Monocle.

Artists, monsters, and fiendish art collectors will be in attendance. Wear a costume, if you like, or come stark raving nude and no one will bat an eye (except maybe the bats). Hope to see you there! -"Count Bobula" Rini

bob makes art
notes from the underground

CALLING ALL SNITCHES!

  Hey, here is what happens when you get commissioned by the city to make public art.  Me and the Friends of the Nib "beautified" a boarded-up Jack in the Box on Broadway, and were punished for our good deeds.  It's caused something of a stir up here.  The comments on the Stranger blog are interesting -- some of the people blame us and sympathize with the vandals.  Go figure.

(more info here)

Best regards,
Bob

MILD KINGDOM: animal art to benefit animals

Friends of the Friends --

   The Friends of the Nib are having a benefit Friday for "Animal Talk," a no-kill non profit rescue for animals.  There will be plenty of original, cool art at affordable prices, and it's a good cause, so come on down!  Food, drink, and live music, too.  More information here!

Yours truly,
Bob

Mild Kingdom
Affordable Drawings, Paintings, Prints and Sculptures of Animals by Seattle's Famous Friends of the Nib
Friday, June 13 
7-10 PM
Cafe Racer
5828 Roosevelt Way NE, Seattle WA

I Love U To Death

Bob writes:

Hey, Gang!

Do you still believe in LOVE in this tired, cynical, ironic, post-modern age? I hope so. Come down to the Cafe Racer, famed clubhouse of the notorious art gang Friends of the Nib, for a Valentine's Day Party and Art Show! No white-wall gallery pretensions here, just good food, booze, and pure love. Art for sale, and artists in attendance. Buy them a drink! Ha! Leave the TV behind for some actual human interaction -- you won't be sorry!

Thursday, February 14th, from 7 till 10PM
Cafe Racer
5828 Roosevelt Way NE, Seattle

Kitchen Magic

Kitchen Magic always begins with well-sharpened knives, and when the cook is inspired, hungry diners don't ask questions, other than "When's dinner?" To a stress-free, booze-filled holiday at your local drinking establishment! Cheers!

Halloween Hi-Jinx

Here's a Halloween homage to Ernie Bushmiller's inscrutable Nancy and Sluggo. There's frost on the pumpkin down here, and Screamin' Jay Hawkins is on the box. We're geared up for trick or treaters. I've already been digging into the Fun-size Snickers so much my teeth hurt. It's like crack, I'm afraid. Washing them down with hard liquor seems to take the edge off. I'm a pirate, and it's Halloween Week at the Bob blog, too. Swing by for a trick or treat.

Love in the Year 2000

I was recently commissioned to produce concept drawings for "Love in the Year 2000," a film being directed by Derick Avitt. My job was to help visualize and concretize the script, written by David Miller. Miller described the film as "a visionary science fiction film set in the future. The ambitious production will create a work of bold post-modernity, entirely relevant to the present in which we live."

The project was a lot of fun, and Miller was extremely helpful providing insight into his script. The world had to be real, with elements of the here and now, but also have the strange feel of a distopia. The final illustrations never strayed far from this initial sketch, which can be seen on my blog.

Not So Fast Food

Like a good many people, summer for me means elephant ears and fried Snickers at the state fair, hot buttered popcorn at the drive-in, and all-you-can-eat barbecue at Smokey's Iron Pig. As a result, I've put on some summer weight. When I swim, my wake rocks oil tankers. So I'm eating fruit. And fruit is weird. It's mottled and weird and quickly rots. It sits in the bowl, mocking me. Fruit is chilly, while fast food is gregarious and warm! Always happy to see me! Sure, it's a con, but hey, I'm game. Fruit, on the other hand, has no advertising to sucker me in, no cool graphics to seduce me, and no sugar or oil to tickle my innards, so why eat it? It's good for you. 

Oscar's Grind

"Yah, yah, yabba-dadda-doo!" Tumbling dice on green felt. If adrenaline is addictive, this coppertone, gold chain cowboy is a stone cold junkie with eyes like pinholes, shaking the dice, blowing on them, and flinging them at the far wall. "Baby needs a new pair a SHOES!" He's been on a roll and made money for all these passline bettors, but this time he sevens out. Everyone boos. Cowboy gulps down his whiskey-rocks and disappears.

I was down in Las Vegas for a few days, and all that curvilinear fuchsia and mango jazz was a lot of fun, despite the hundred-and-ten degree heat on the Strip. It was surreal. Disneyland on the surface of Mercury. Old school casinos and new palaces with marble floors and Chihulys, beautiful fountains, even a fake Eiffel Tower!

I had some luck at roulette, betting red and black. I was using "Oscar's Grind," a betting system appeared in Allan Wilson's "The Casino Gambler's Guide," copyright 1965. This guy -- known only as "Oscar" -- claimed modest but consistent profits with this method. Next time you're in Vegas, try Oscar's Grind. Maybe you'll get lucky.

Somebody's Parents

Before cellphones and ringtones, before star wars and gulf wars and gas wars, before pepper and pet sounds, these folks drove sleek cars with space-age fins, smoked and drank without irony, studied on the GI Bill, watched Twilight Zone, and stood stock-still in their driveways as a tiny Russian satellite crossed the starry night sky. These are somebody's parents.