THE COMET
EVERYTHING WILL BE FINE
WEDNESDAY, JULY 4, 2018
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THIS issue editor: Ron Evans contributors: Holly Thorpe,Cory Calhoun, Dustin Hays, Jamie Howell, Allegra Hart WEB: thecometmagazine.com facebook.com/thecometmagazine instagram: @thecometmagazine twitter: @cometmagazine info@thecometmagazine.com
B-SIDES...................................PAGE 4 THE DOCTOR IS IN....................PAGE 6 crossword..........................PAGE 7 events..................................PAGE 8 National spotlight.............PAGE 12 dan mcconnell....................PAGE 14 aberdeen..............................PAGE 18 howell at the movies.........PAGE 20 comet tales..........................PAGE 22 edgar rue comic...................PAGE 24 the spacepod........................PAGE 26
DAN MCCONNELL - PAGE 14
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WEDNESDAY, JULY 4, 2018
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COMET HEADQUARTERS july 4, 2018 Note From The Editors Well it’s almost the fourth day of the seventh month. You know what that means? That’s right. Time to throw caution to the wind! Along with maybe a few lit sticks of twirling gunpowder-powered projectiles. It’s also a fresh 30 days of fun shit going on so let’s not let a little thing like destroyed homes, burnt animals and environmental sabotage stop us from all the good times, eh? With the relentless force of the Martian sun upon our fair valley, Dr. Allegra Hart’s column on hydration will have you sprinting to the nearest frosty glass of ice water, post haste. Seriously. You are thirsty right now. Drink water! Dustin Hays brings us an epic stack of local music history with an amazing spotlight on The Lady From Wenatchee. I’m not even gonna tease where this one goes. I’m just gonna let it unfold for you. Holly sat down with one of our very own contributors, Dan McConnell on his three decades of cartooning. He’s had his work in comics, newspapers, periodicals of note and even peanut butter jars. I promise, it only sounds made up. Dan offers some interesting insight into the world of political cartoons as well. This month we also dish out our first national artist spotlight. This is something we are pretty excited about because while there are countless talented creatives in these here parts, it’s always inspiring to see new things being created by artists all over the world. This issue I sat down with Phoenix, Arizonabased surrealist, Eric Cox. Eric is making powerful works in many mediums and his philosophy on the craft is as unique as the product itself. Jamie Howell has taken on the burden of watching a shitload of movies and giving his best recommendations to better help you navigate the flurry of summer flicks 2018 has to offer. We dare you to see them all... I’m pretty happy to present one of my favorite tales of clandestine tomfoolery in this month’s Spacepod article: Bohemian Grove. This is one of three stories that cemented my path into the murky, and semi-stupid, woods of conspiracy theories. I’ll save the others for another issue. Stay safe out there in the hot wind, dodge them ground flowers and for the love of God, water that lawn. And yourself. You are already thirsty, remember?
Happy trails, Ron Evans Editor, The Comet Magazine Ron Evans is the owner of RadarStation art gallery at 115 S. Wenatchee Ave., host of the Tales from the Spacepod podcast, author of “Edgar Rue,” and creator of many other things, many of which have robots in them. He is editor of The Comet and lead designer.
Red nose, white liver and blue....welll whatever. Ron pic by Siri Rose - Holly Pic by Michelle Naranjo
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B-SIDES: The Lady From Wenatchee
Betty Lou Walters and Ken Murray at their 1948 wedding. Photo courtesy Dustin Hays. Some of the best places where I’ve discovered remnants of We n a t c h e e ’ s musical past are in the dusty, unorganized and often neglected music sections DUSTIN HAYS of the area’s Musician/Music Historian thrift stores. Sprinkled in among the countless religious records, Streisand LPs and always a scratched copy of Fleetwood Mac’s Rumors, are more often than not a few gems from Wenatchee’s past. A good copy of the 1970 Orchard Junior High Stage Band LP or the Wenatchee Apollo Club’s 70 Years In Concert album are probably the most common ones that end up in the racks, but every once in a while I’ll come across something that I’ve never seen before that will uncover another piece of valley’s musical history. Two years ago, I picked up five acetate discs, all with the name Betty Lou Wal-
ters on the center labels. An acetate disc is similar to a regular vinyl record, but is usually a lacquer coated aluminum disc rather than a pressed vinyl record sold to the public. Most acetates from the first half of the century were used to archive live radio broadcasts or used as reference discs for artists and studios, making them much harder to come by, and usually much more interesting. After searching through a few online newspaper archives, I began piecing her story together, and a few months later I was able to get ahold of Betty Lou’s daughter, Pam, who helped me complete more of the puzzle. Betty Lou Walters was born Bette Lou Padoshek in 1927, right here in Wenatchee. She began performing at the age of nine, making some of her earliest appearances at the Liberty Theater. In her youth (then billed as Betty Lou Padoshek) she participated in multiple “talent searches” with one notable endeavour being the Seattle Screen Talent Quest of 1936. The earliest acetate disc in the bundle was dated “10/24/39” and features Betty Lou at a talent show on the Los Angeles radio station
KFWB. It was in May 1937 that Betty Lou first left Washington state for California to perform in conjunction with the opening ceremonies of the Golden Gate Bridge, held from May 27 to June 2. By the following year Betty Lou and her mother had relocated to California to pursue her performing seriously. After the move, Betty Lou adopted the full performing alias of Betty Lou Walters, and found work in several Hollywood radio programs. The other four acetates were from unreleased sessions she had in studios around Hollywood in 1944, at the age of 17. In’45, Betty Lou began performing in the vaudeville act Ken Murray’s Blackouts. Run by Ken Murray, a successful stage performer and radio host, the Hollywood revue had been holding performances at the El Capitan Theatre since 1942. The first appearance Betty Lou made on a physical release was in early 1948 (billed at Elizabeth Walters) on the double-78 release accompanying Ken Murray’s film “Bill & Coo.” Betty Lou appeared in the
movie, and provided narration on the records. As early as March 1947, newspapers had been printing rumors in their gossip columns of Murray marrying, but it wasn’t until December 1, 1948 that the two tied the knot. The Hollywood marriage was announced in papers across the country the following day. In Ken Murray’s 1960 autobiography Life On A Pogo Stick he wrote about receiving a particularly special wedding present from one of his closest friends Bing Crosby, who was at the time one of the most popular singers and film stars in America. “He found out that my bride-to-be’s favorite song was ‘You Were Meant for Me’, and he made a record of it with special lyrics. His wife, Dixie, presented it to Betty Lou at her shower. It has remained one of her most cherished possessions.” Through sheer luck I happened upon that very disc last year, buried in a now defunct thrift store on South Wenatchee Avenue. The acetate labeled “The Betty Lou Song” is actually a combination of
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“You Were Meant For Me” a song first popularized in the 1929 musical film The Broadway Melody and “The Girl That I Marry” from the 1946 musical Annie Get Your Gun. Betty Lou made frequent appearances on CBS’ Ken Murray Show during the early ’50s, acting in Murray’s 1953 film The Marshal’s D a u g h t e r, and even working for a short time as the musical coordinator on CBS television program Gene Autry’s Melody Ranch. Murray continued working in the public eye through the ’70s, while the couple raised two children. They were married until
Murray passed away in 1988. Betty Lou eventually relocated back to Washington, remarrying in Chelan in 1999. She passed away in 2015 at the age of 88. Betty Lou is familiar to the Wenatcheeites who grew up with her, or to those who knew of her fame through her family that remained in the valley; Betty Lou’s father William Padoshek ran a plumbing business in town from the late ’50s until his passing in 1977. The one-off recording from Crosby, a Spokane native, has somehow escaped 70 years of public exposure. Though Crosby remains one of
the most successful recording artists of all time, the song has even escaped internet archives of Crosby’s thousands of recording sessions from his 51 year career. No doubt donated to the local thrift stores after Betty Lou’s passing, the acetate discs preserve a glimpse into our past that would have otherwise been forgotten. The lyrics to Crosby’s acetate even include a Wenatchee mention!
The girl for Ken Murray is Betty Lou. He’s in a hurry to say I do. They’ll soon be married, folks ‘Cause she’s not only pretty But she laughs at his jokes. There’ll be no backouts this wedding day. It’s just like Blackouts It’s here to stay While her laughter Shakes each rafter. You can bet he’ll be hers ever after. From now on don’t worry -
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It’s Betty Lou Murray to you! She was meant for him Lovely, sweet and slim. People told her she was bound to go far, So she hitched her wagon to a cigar. You’ve heard what gentlemen prefer; Well he was meant for her. What a match — the lady from Wenatchee Loves the snappy way he sighs, So here comes the bride!
Dustin Hays is a Wenatchee musician, local music history aficionado and enthusiastic member of the local music scene. He performs as a solo singer-songwriter around the area and as a member of one of the valley’s newest groups The Nightmares. Hays also hosts “Sounds of the Valley” a weekly radio show on KORE FM Community Radio (99.1/105.9 FM) focused on the local music scene, both past and present. C
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the doctor is in: ARE YOU THIRSTY?
Q: How much water should I drink?
no longer hungry, you know that this was actually a sign of dehydration. Other symptoms like fatigue, dry mouth, headaches, dizziness, and dry skin Are you are other signs that dehydration is a probthirsty? Did you lem for you. Most people are not drinking enough know that by the time you feel water. But just like a healthy diet, there is thirsty you are no one-size-fits-all ideal water intake for already dehy- everyone. The first question you need to answer drated? ALLEGRA HART It is interesting is, “How much do I weigh?” This number Naturopathic Physician that most people will help you figure out how many ounces do not recognize many of the signs of de- of water you should consume every day. hydration. You might be one of the people You take the amount you weigh in pounds who misinterpret what your body is try- and divide that number by two. This gives you the amount of water you should be ing to tell you about hydration. Another interesting sign that tells you drinking in ounces everyday. Seems pretty simple, right? Well, there’s that you are dehydrated is hunger. Many people mistake thirst for hunger. An easy a little bit more to hydration and water inway to clear up this matter is to drink a take. You need to make sure that you are glass of water when you think you are getting enough good fats in your diet so hungry, and then if in 15 minutes you are that your cells can actually bring the hy-
dration inside. If you do not have enough good fat in your diet your cells will not be flexible enough to bring in your water and get out your waste. I’ll talk more about good fats and how much you should eat at another time. For this moment just know most of us need to consume more good fat. The next thing we need to answer is, “What else are you drinking?” Caffeinated drinks like coffee, green tea, black tea, and soda are diuretics. This means they’re going to push more fluid out of your body then they provide. This is true for alcohol, fruit juices, and even soda that does not contain caffeine. If you are one of those people that wakes up in first thing in the morning has a cup of coffee, and then ends your day with a beer or glass of wine, you need to add two extra glasses of water just to break even with hydration. Keep in mind, you’ll need to add extra
water if you are exercising or if it’s an especially hot day. To make it easier to drink enough water, start your day with two cups of water first thing in the morning. Carry a sturdy stainless steel bottle that you like to look at so you are more likely to pick it up and drink. I like the brands Kleen Kanteen and HydroFlask. These are sturdy and metal will not leach into your water like poor quality stainless steel or plastic bottles do. Ready to get hydrated? Bottoms up! If you have a question for Dr. Allegra, please send it to info@naturaeclinic.com with the subject “The Doctor Is In Question”. C
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WEDNESDAY, JULY 4, 2018
CALCULATE THIS!
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Made exclusively for The Comet by Cory Calhoun
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Have ideas for puzzles or feedback? Email info@thecometmagazine.com
ACROSS 1 Single numbers 6 Cries of pain 9 Opposite of neg. 12 Macbeth’s title 13 Absurd, in modern lingo 15 Microbrew option 16 “A Doll’s House” playwright 17 Certain Pennsylvanians 18 Turn abruptly 19 Special instruction for viewing this grid once it’s complete, part 1 22 Match up 23 Simpson trial judge 24 What the last sometimes isn’t? 25 Satirical twist 27 Neutral regions, in short 29 Seth of “Pineapple Express” 31 Egyptian symbol 32 Sounds of disapproval 36 Kinda 37 (Cobain’s birth year – value of a “grand”) x (MLB “hit club” milestone + emergency phone number) … or, when viewed a certain way, what this clue’s answer hopefully will be 41 Chihuahua, for example 42 A bit of course work? 44 Drs. grp. 45 Bygone jetliner name 47 Jon of “Mad Men” 49 Way sentimental
51 Lure 54 Collectible frame 55 Run ___ (hit the track) 58 Special instruction for viewing this grid once it’s complete, part 2 62 Tobacco co. inits. 63 REM frontman 64 Wide preppy collars 65 Excessively 66 “Challenge accepted!” 67 Forcibly zaps 68 Pathetic start? 69 Cheerful sound? 70 Still DOWN 1 Rouses 2 “Yippee!” 3 It’s often talked about the following morning 4 It could describe a lot 5 Transported 6 Jon’s cartoon pet 7 Puff of smoke 8 Woodstock creator 9 It’s sometimes a personal thing 10 October birthstones 11 Bob of “Full House” 13 Threadbare 14 “If you ask me,” in online lingo 20 German article 21 Passion 26 It’s said before lifting a couch, perhaps 27 Certain Star Trek series to Trekkers, briefly 28 Audio format 29 Mock 30 Big Ten sch. 31 Florida highway namechecked in “Ice Ice Baby”
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33 Relax by stretching 34 Pond dweller 35 Neighbor of Leb. and Isr. 38 When many stores open 39 Format of the infamous Zapruder film 40 Popular mixer 43 Title character of three Marvel films 46 No-frills 48 “Yes, Captain” 49 1996 thriller with a stylized title 50 In the style of 51 Pub pastime 52 Relish 53 Storage medium 54 Fictional speaker of six million languages 56 Ed who played Santa in Elf 57 (... hey, you ... over here ...)
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SOLUTION TO last month’s PUZZLE J U I C E I N T E R B O O T S O S X S W T I E R R S I R E E M A Q B O O K S U R N S T B S T Y O H O T E L O R A T E F R U I T
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A C O N N U R E D T A G S W A X N I L E O D E S N E A N G S M E U P E T S Y F A S T L S I N O A S T
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GTFO: EVENTS WORTH LEAVING YOUR HOUSE FOR
SETH GARRIDO
JULY 05 : Champagne Sunday With special guests The Radar Dames Burlesque RadarStation, Wenatchee Don’t wait on this one - amazing tunes from one of out favorite acts, Champagne Sunday and a special appearance by The Radar Dames Burlesque! 6:30 p.m. 18+ Tickets at radarstationart.com/tickets
JULY 05-07 : Comedy at Campbell’s with Eddie Ifft Campbell’s Resort on Lake Chelan Our summer comedy series continues with headlining comedian Eddie Ifft, who has his own half hour Comedy Central special and has made numerous TV appearances. Come celebrate America with drinks and jokes at Campbell’s! All shows are 21+. Tickets at rottenapplepresents.com
JULY 05-AUG 02 : Concerts in the Gardens Ohme Gardens, Wenatchee JULY 5 : The Infinity Project
A Tribute to Journey
JULY 12 : Too Slim and the Taildraggers JULY 19 : The Wenatchee Swingin’ Big Band JULY 26 : Peter Rivera Band AUG 02: Invisible Touch - A Tribute to Phil Col lins Gates open 5 p.m., Concerts at 6:30 p.m Tickets at rlstickets.com
JULY 06-27 : Friday Night Music at Pybus Public Market Free and all ages. All shows 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. JULY 6: Seth Garrido JULY 13: Lucky Break Boys JULY 13: The Saddle Rockers JULY 20: Lance Tigner JULY 27: Karrie O’Neill
JULY 06-27 : Live Music at Icicle Brewing Icicle Brewing Company, Leavenworth JULY 6: Tai Shan, 6 p.m. JULY 7: The Flower Pistils, 6 p.m. JULY 11, 18 & 25: Sergio & Co, 7 p.m. JULY 12 & 26: Bluegrass Night, 7 p.m. JULY 14: Alex Ashley, 6 p.m. JULY 20: Nic Allen, 6p.m. JULY 21: Hans Hessburg Duo, p.m. JULY 27: Norman Baker, 6 p.m. JULY 28: Karrie O’Neill, 6 p.m.
den is 21+, with $1 cover charge.
JULY 06-28 : Live Music at München Haus München Haus, Leavenworth. All shows 6 p.m. JULY 6: Daniel Rapport Trio JULY 7: Seth Garrido JULY 12, 19 & 26: Hans Hessburg JULY 13: Devils Gulch and The Missionaries JULY 14: Dugi B JULY 20: Kevin Jones Band JULY 21: Rock Radio JULY 27: Buzz Brump JULY 28: Michael Trew
JULY 06-27 : Live Music at McGlinn’s Public House Parklet Vibes Summer Music Series every Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday nights. Visit mcglinns.com for complete show listings and links to learn more about the artists. All shows are free and kid-friendly. Shows with inclement weather will not be cancelled but moved indoors. JULY 6-7: Gretchen Yanover JULY 11: Eden Moody JULY 13-14: Brody Blackburn JULY 18: Jennan Oalks JULY 20-21: Tai Shan JULY 27-28: Coyote Midnight
JULY 06-27 : Summer Concert Series & Museum Beer Garden The City of Wenatchee is once again sponsoring its Summer Concert Series on Friday evenings in Centennial park. Free and all ages. July 6th: JunkBelly July 13th: Jumper Flats July 20th: Jennan Oaks July 27th: Shy-Ann For a perfect view and listening spot, join us in the parking lot at Wenatchee Valley Museum & Cultural Center, where beer and wine available for purchase. Beer gar-
JULY 06-28 : Live Music at Wally’s House of Booze Presented by Snatchee Records at Wally’s Tavern, Wenatchee. See facebook.com/pg/SnatcheeRecords509 for complete event listings. JULY 6: Community Center JULY 13: Lorin Walker Madsen & The Hustlers, Abraham & The Old God’s, Twin Skinny, Cowboy Dan JULY 14: The Adarna, Human Element JULY 21: The Moon is Flat, Human Element, Oliver Elf Army JULY 25: The Delta Bombers, Twin Skinny, Cowboy Dan JULY 27: Twin Skinny, Dylan Morrison, Paul Graves, Cowboy Dan JULY 28: Ball Bag, The Nightmares, Nephilim Rising
JULY 06-29 : Live Music at Stein Stein, Leavenworth. All shows 8 p.m. ULY 6, 19 & 29: Twin Skinny JULY 13: Shongo Bongo JULY 20: Duende Libre
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cheech & chong
JULY 27: Kevin Jones Band JULY 28: Analog Jack
WEDNESDAY, JULY 4, 2018
bruce cockburn
Pearl, features interviews with authors, poets, and other literary figures. 11 a.m. Tickets at writeontheriver.wildapricot.org
JULY 07 : Brett Benton & Gordon Townsend Club Crow, Cashmere Brett Benton and Gordon Townsend bring their lively, energetic and groove-heavy hill country and delta blues to Club Crow for the first time. Y’all come get down and bring these fellas a warm welcome! 9 p.m.
JULY 20: The Moondoggies Suncadia Resort, Cle Elum Bring your lawn chairs and blankets and join us at the Suncadia Village Amphitheater for a free outdoor concert. Under the stars and open to all ages. 7 p.m. - 9 p.m.
JULY 07 : Cheech & Chong Deep Water Amphitheater, Manson The 2018 Cheech & Chong tour is a follow up to the hugely successful reunion tour: Cheech & Chong Light Up America Tour in 2008. Come enjoy an evening of new and old memories at the Deep Water Amphitheater with Cheech & Chong. 8 p.m. Tickets at ticketmaster.com
JULY 07-21 : Live Music at Dawsons’ Dawsons’ Bar, Moses Lake JULY 7: Punk show with Acid Teeth and Take Back JULY 20: R ock-Your-Billy featuring The Roostertails JULY 21: Itchy Kitty with The Nightmares All shows 9 p.m., 21+ and no cover as usual!
JULY 27-29 : Ellensburg’s Music Festival Jazz in the Valley Get your soul back with 25 shows in 8 intimate venues showcasing a spectacular line-up of the most diverse musicians the Northwest has to offer, with music ranging from blues to rock to salsa to swing to straight ahead jazz. All ages. Kids 10 and under admitted free. See jazzinthevalley.com for schedule and tickets.
JULY 14 : Cozy Brunch with Nancy Pearl Milepost 111 Brewing Co., Cashmere Come have brunch with Nancy Pearl! Nancy Pearl regularly speaks about the importance and pleasure of reading at libraries, literacy organizations, and community groups around the world. Her monthly television show on the Seattle Channel, Book Lust with Nancy
JULY 28 : Cryptozoology with David George Gordon Summer Salon Series, Moses Lake Museum & Art Center Cryptozoology is the systematic study of so-called “hidden animals,” including numerous unexplained creatures such as the Sasquatch, as well as Scotland’s Loch Ness Monster and the Abominable Snowman (or Yeti) of Tibet. This introduction to the science of cryptozoology describes the state of our understanding of these strange entities and more, including recent evidence of sea monsters off the Washington coast. Book signing to follow. David George Gordon is the author of The Sasquatch Seeker’s Field Manual and 19 other titles. 3 p.m.
JULY 28 : Music in the Meadow with Bruce Cockburn Icicle Creek Center for the Arts, Leavenworth Bring a chair or blanket and join us for music in the meadow with one of Canada’s finest artists, Bruce Cockburn! 7 p.m. Tickets at icicle.org
JULY 14 : aberdeen - multimedia performance RadarStation, Wenatchee Matt Sheehy of Portland’s Lost Lander brings his solo acoustic show of music, spoken word and film visuals to Wenatchee. Tickets at lostlander.space
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JULY 28 : The Big Chill Ciderfest The first major cider festival in North Central Washington is coming to Cashmere this summer. Presented by Cascade Farmlands, The Big Chill offers an abundance of tastes from ten of the region’s cideries. Staged right next to Liberty Orchards, home of Aplets and Cotlets, come relax in our big “Chill Pavilion” complete with refreshing misters, and dance in the evening to live music. 4 p.m. - 10 p.m. Tickets at brownpaper.tickets.com
Are you putting on a cool event? Is your band playing in town? To have an event listed in The Comet, email info@thecometmagazine.com
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wenatchee first friday Kasey Koski with Wenatchee First Fridays helped put together this list of shows, along with their First Friday hours. Remember, while most places have special events, artists receptions and free admission during First Friday, the art itself is on exhibit all month long in most locations.
Ye Olde Bookshoppe 11 Palouse St. Summer Store Hours: Mon. 11-7; Tue.-Thur., 10-7; Fri.-Sat. 10-8. Art Walk Hours: 5-8 p.m. Yeti Chocolates, Willow Merrit, is a newly established small batch artisan chocolate company in the Wenatchee Valley that makes chocolate truffles and other confections that tantalize the palate and entice the senses. Third Eye Grind, Ty Stevens, local rock-hounder who specializes in wire-wrapping stones he finds throughout his travels.and turns them into bits of portable magic.
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church 428 King St. 509-662-5635 First Friday Reception 5pm-8pm. Jean Tudor, has been enameling for 50-60 years. She has completed a series of 17 8”x10” pieces based on a canticle called Benedicite or Song of Praise. The song brings to mind creation that always continues, and it calls on all, past and present, to praise and magnify the Lord. The material used is silver and copper cloisonné vitreous enamel on copper, with silver and gold foil inlaid. Check out her website: http://www.jeantudorenamels.com
Lemolo Cafe & Deli 114 N Wenatchee Ave. Sun & Mon 11-4, Tue-Sat 11-6 Open First Friday until 6 Martha Flores is an expressionist who uses bright colors and, paints flowers and faces, loves movement and swirls of color. She was born in Guatemala, grew up in El Salvador, her Mayan roots influence her style and color. She has a MFA from Cal state Los Angeles. She is a sculptor and painter and love teaching children’s art.
cializing in beads and wire, incorporating found objects, vintage jewelry, and more into my creations. I even use an old pasta machine to create the textures onto the metals I use. I love to hunt for treasures at garage sales and antique stores. If I can help recycle these treasures I am thrilled. Jewelry designing is my passion and I love to share my work.”
Mela 17 N. Wenatchee Ave. caffemela.com Mon - Fri: 6- 6, Sat- -Sun: 8- 4 First Fridays Opening Reception: 5-8 Mela features Bryant Goetz. He says of his work, “My mixed media paintings seek to enter the conversation of painting somewhere between the figure and abstraction. There is a certain melancholy feeling I seek to achieve in every painting, which I find beautiful and ambiguous. They leave just enough of the story unfinished to evoke a personal emotional response from each viewer. Spontaneous moments of clarity take place throughout the process and serve as jumping off points as the image evolves. Although oil painting serves as the central medium for the work, no single medium is held sacred. The combination of oil paint, pastel, charcoal, spray paint, and markers each provide a distinct dimensionality to the work.”
Two Rivers Gallery 102 N Columbia 2riversgallery.com Wed-Sat:11- 4, Sun:1-4 First Friday Reception 5-8
Wenatchee Valley Museum & Cultural Center
137 North Wenatchee Avenue 509.662.2116 First Friday Reception 5pm-8pm. The Chamber Tasting Room will be Featuring Keystone Cellars Wine. Winemakers, Dale Foreman and Jim Porter will be pouring their wine, and talking about the Art of Wine Making at the Chamber “Old Truck Bar.” Keystone Ranch and the Foreman Family donated the ’46 Truck which has been converted into the Chamber Tasting Room Bar. Featured Wines will be: Pinot Noir, Keystone White Blend, Cab Sauv, and Chardonnay.
127 South Mission Street wenatcheevalleymuseum.org T-Sat: 10-4, First Friday (FREE): 10-8 New to the upstairs rotating gallery is a Brief history of Photography. This exhibit, featuring a wide selection of cameras from the Museum’s historical collection, is a precursor to the coming exhibit Beyond the Frame: Inland Bounty, The work of Edward S. Curtis in the Columbia River Basin. This project is in conjunction with the greater Beyond the Frame effort taking place throughout the Pacific Northwest. The main gallery features the NCW Juried Art Show & Sale presented by the Wenatchee Valley Museum & Cultural Center and showcases exceptional work by regional artists.
Tumbleweed Shop & Studio
RadarStation
Wenatchee Valley Chamber of Commerce
105 Palouse Tue-Sat:11-6, Sun:11- 4, First Friday 5-8 Rita Picker- “I am a local jewelry designer living in Leavenworth, far from my New York City birthplace. I have over 30 years experience in the arts, most recently spe-
115 S. Wenatchee Ave. First Friday FREE Reception 5-9 pm FORMS: Invasion of The Naked Humans II We all have one thing in common. We are naked under our clothes. Shhhh, we won’t tell if you don’t. Our second
nude art show featuring paintings, sculptures, photography and sketches all dealing with the human form. There will be live nude model sketching, a selfie wall, mini-nude paintings in the Dish Of Fate and lots of other nude related tomfoolery. This show is for open-minded folks over the age of 18 only.
Pans Grotto 3 N Wenatchee Ave, Suite 2 Wenatchee Wa 98801 509-293-9881 Don@pansgrotto.com The Deep: Have you ever wondered what lurks at the bottom of the ocean? Come check out what creatures local artists think dwell in the sea from Mermaids to Sea Dragons. Don’t miss this group show featured for all of July.
Mid-month Events Wenatchee Valley Museum & Cultural Center 127 South Mission Street wenatcheevalleymuseum.org July 6th, 7-9 pm Museum Beer Garden @ Junk Belly Concert: Centennial Park with a Beer Garden in the Museum parking lot July 13th, 7-9pm Museum Beer Garden @ Jumper Flats Concert: Centennial Park with a Beer Garden in the Museum parking lot July 14th Lake Wenatchee Geology Tour 9 am - 5 pm July 20, 7-9pm Museum Beer Garden @ Jennan Oaks Concert: Centennial Park with a Beer Garden in the Museum parking lot July 27, 7-9pm Museum Beer Garden @ Shy-Ann Concert: Centennial Park with a Beer Garden in the Museum parking lot July 18 - August 23 Super Summer Adventures Weekly Summer Camps for 1st – 7th graders.
Ye Olde Bookshoppe 11 Palouse St. Open Mic Nights
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painful decision
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NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT: THE SURREALISM OF ERIC COX
BY ron evans
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e discovered Phoenix-based artist Eric Cox’s powerful work on Instagram a while ago. His pieces jumped off the screen with a strange and seemingly perfect balance of bold colors, dark spaces and troubling subject matter. When he’s not painting you can sometimes catch him burning his amazing pieces to a pile of ashes. Artists. Am I right? It was a nobrainer to reach out to Eric for our first National Spotlight focus. Your work, while structured with certain elements of realism and form, has a looseness that at times borders on the abstract. Do you take inspiration from abstract concepts? The space around an object just as important as the object itself. The realism aspects only become real when juxtaposed with the abstractions. This theme is always in my mind when I’m creating. Some artists have tricks to make their works appear looser than they are. Do you attempt to tightly control all aspects of a composition or are you more inclined to just “let things happen” a bit? I rarely do any preliminary sketches. The process needs to be organic. I must feel like I’m inventing something new every time I create. The instinct that responds to a mark or a drip is where the art is
Picture a messy studio with paint tubes that don’t have lids and dried up brushes. How does the inclusion of spray paint The layering comes from a consistent lack of organization and need to be uninform your overall process? All you have to do is push a button and derstood as raw and honest. I will leave paint comes out. I mean, it doesn’t get any the perfectionist to clean their lines and easier than that. It could very well be lazi- polish their thoughts. I find a sense of ness, but being able to cover a large space beauty in that reality. or mist out a perfectly pink cheek with There’s a frenetic energy to much the press of a button is magical. of what you create. You illustrate this most often through the scrawlAre you painting every day? Creating is the only thing that is keeping ing lines and scribbles over, under or from totally losing it. Hey, what a privi- around a finely rendered painting. Are lege it is to get to be creative every day you ever worried you might fuck up a piece with this semi-controlled chaos? and express myself. Or is that a type of freestyle that is all part of your process? What is your dream collaboration? I want to be wearing a fur coat while I’m not worried about fucking up a piece painting on the floor with Basquiat during because they all get fucked up. The prothe time Francis Bacon and Warhol argue cess is about reaching a freedom separate about champagne and Dali makes fun of from traditional guidelines. Some years them. Then, I want to go on a hike with ago I heard late artist, Gregory Gillespie speak about his work. An audience Andy Goldsworthy. member asked if collectors avoided his works on newspaper for their lack of arWhat is your dream project? I fear dialectical instability by answering chival qualities. He shook his head and this question. I believe talking about it explained the piece will last longer than will change the meaning and I’m not will- they will live and with the thought - why the collector even cares about the piece ing to take that chance. 300 years from now? Needless to say, I Tape, paint drippings, scratches. Tex- found his reply very refreshing. ture is something that really resonates throughout your work. What draws Do you often work in sculpture? you toward the use of this type of tex- I have a series about identity using clay and found objects. The sculptures are turing/layering? happening.
overtly vaginal and arouse from the part of me that is still antiestablishment and slightly immature. They are a direct response to many years of censorship and a commentary on equal rights and social insecurities. For instance, “Biological Clock” is a vagina as an old clock face. You can set the alarm and the bell will ring, but you don’t know when it will go off. Do You find it challenging to have consistency while still trying to always progress and evolve? I do my best not to censor myself in subject and materials. One day I’m drawing with a pen and the next I’m using aerosol and resin. Often I find myself inventing a new approach only to recall having made something similar a decade ago. What’s up next for you? I’m going to go big! Also, I’ve been having these day dreams about messing with some stop motion techniques. I also have these moments where I want to burn the art and move to some vacation land somewhere. Watch Eric burn his art and follow his exploits here. Artsycoxy.wordpress.com Instagram.com/artsycoxy/ Facebook.com/Eric-Cox
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dan mcconnell: 30 years of professional cartooning
BY holly thorpe
D
an McConnell started cartooning professionally in 1981, publishing a local comic strip called “Apple Andy” in the Cashmere newspaper. But, as with many artists, the drawing started much earlier than that. “I started drawing on sheets of butcher paper when I was four....we didn’t have a television at the time... got our first TV in 1955, when I was seven,” McConnell said. “I drew all the time — on the kitchen table while I was listening to Friday Night Fights on the radio....(weird, a pre-schooler listening to boxing) I’d draw on a little pad in the car... When I was inside, I was probably drawing.” Today, he publishes cartoons every issue with The Comet, he’s regularly published the comic “Then &
Now” in Good Life Magazine, has come out like half of how I wanted had many comics in the Wenatchee it to look. But now if I get an idea I World and many other local publica- would say 80 to 90 percent of the time tions. He’s also published in national my idea comes out.” publications — perhaps most notably, He said working for Marvel helped Reader’s Digest. Although he’s been improve his confidence in his inking publishing abilities. He comic strips, inked comics political car- “There are 150 quadrillion different for them from toons and car1990 to 1994. ways that all the arrangements of There, he deicatures since 1981, McConsigned comics your face can be put together.” nell continues for PizzaHut, to draw and Hardy’s, and learn. mini-comic “I’m more confident now, and I’ve books that were packaged with action used so many different materials in all figures and stuck on candy boxes. His the drawings that I’ve done that I kind proudest, he said, was X-Men #1. of know exactly what I want to do,” “But it was for Tony’s Pizza,” he said, he said. “Previously, I would get an laughing. “I was in the custom comics idea when I first started, and it would division.”
“One of the most fun ones — partly because it was everywhere and partly because it was a stupid thing — was a little, tiny, round Spider-Man comic book and it was on the top of a Peter Pan peanut butter jar,” he said. “That was pretty fun.” In addition to comic strips, McConnell has a portfolio full of detailed caricatures, ranging from Dr. Gregory House to Jack Nicholson to Mao Zedong and many other politicians. He’s also done caricatures at events, drawing people at the mall at the opening of a new store. He said drawing people has changed the way he looks at them “To draw a face, there’s, let me say, 150 quadrillion different ways that all the arrangements of your face can be put together,” he said. “I stare at peo-
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ple and I’m sure they think I’m kind of creepy, but I’m always looking at faces.” He said caricatures can be done “like an egg — hard-boiled, easy over or soft-boiled.” The more hard-boiled, the more extreme and abstract the features become. While comic strips and caricatures are McConnells main cartooning ventures, he has also had many political cartoons published. He draws about 10 per week to submit to The New Yorker magazine, where he has yet to be published. “A good cartoon kind of shakes you up and surprises you somehow,” he said. “You have to listen to the news and you have to tie in what happened in the news to a cartoon and change it enough that it’s a variation on a theme. So, instead of being about Trump, it’s about a king, an autocratic ruler or a tyrannical ruler in another country.” Are there any topics that are taboo for him as a political cartoonist? “Lately, not so many,” he said, laughing. “I don’t try to get anything that’s the way people live. I’ll get into poli-
tics but I won’t get into anything LG“There’s pressure put on editorial BTQ , anything related to that. I want cartoonists to bend their cartoons to respect people’s feelings and what- one way or another,” McConnell said. ever they do. I wasn’t always like that, “Rob Rodgers was just dropped from but my daughter helped me learn to his paper in Philadelphia. He was dobe more open. That’s what happens ing anti-Trump cartoons. He was axed when you’re a parent, your kids teach because he wouldn’t bend to the will you.” of the editorial To do politiboard. It’s an “There’s pressure put on edical cartoons opinion page — torial cartoonists to bend their you have to if you can’t give stay in the loop your cartooncartoons one way or another.” and be aware ists the right to of what’s going share his opinon in the news, he said. ion, basically you’re putting a halter “I’m afraid I do that too much, and reins on him and making him go from my wife’s standpoint,” McCon- one way or the other instead of allownell said. “I turn the news on in the ing him to express himself in a way he morning, I usually watch Rachel Mad- sees fit.” dow and Stephen Colbert, so I have a McConnell is a member of the Nalopsided view of the news — I don’t tional Cartoonists Society, and reguwatch Fox news… [I’ll read] NPR, larly attends workshops, trainings and Wenatchee World, sometimes Seattle events around the area. His next step, papers and every once in a while the he said, is pitching a comic strip for New York Times.” syndication. He said that it’s a challenging time “If you’re at a stopping point and for political cartoonists. In addition to you become stagnant… I think in art a struggling newspaper industry, poli- you have to keep pushing different tics are especially divisive right now. boundaries and moving in different
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directions,” he said. McConnell had advice for those who want to learn to cartoon or draw well. “If you want to be a cartoonist, you have to love to draw enough, that it kind of tugs at you if you don’t draw.... you’re incomplete. It doesn’t feel right if you don’t have a pen, pencil or brush in your hand,” he said. “It’s about unleashing creativity that’s welled up in your brain, unconscious, subconscious, dream images, or images that come to you when you’re daydreaming and doodling. It takes a little free time to be able to do it.” He sent us this list of basic recommendations for new artists, based on what worked for him. His advice is, predictably, funny and poignant:
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McConnell’s Tips •
Start drawing at four (or three if you want to get a head start).
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Don’t watch TV until you’re seven years old, (except Hopalong Cassidy at the neighbors on Saturday).
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Draw in the margins of your school notebooks, but listen to what the teachers are saying too. They’re pretty smart and most of them want to help you.
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Try to get paid for what you do but don’t be boorish about it. Nobody likes a cartoonist thug.
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Keep drawing… every improvement will be better! (Think about that one for a while).
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Stretch; don’t just keep drawing the same thing in the same way; draw with pencil, change to crayon, then paint a little in oils, acrylic, watercolors. It keeps you interested and one medium will maybe enhance the next… if you struggle, it’s part of the learning process.
•
Keep thinking, keep dreaming, keep creating… your brain will thank you.
Follow Dan McConnell’s work in local publications and on Facebook at “Dan McConell, cartoonist”.
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aberdeen: multimedia performance comes to wenatchee
BY ron evans
M
att Sheehy has been crafting catchy, atmospheric tunes with his Portland, Oregon-based band Lost Lander for several years, now. The band has toured extensively with stops at larger festivals like SXSW. However, the place to truly experience the subtleies of this kind of music, in my humble and slightly biased opinion, will always be the intimate venues. Which brings us to Matt’s current proejct, Aberdeen, a multimedia performance he will be bringing to RadarStation in Wenatchee on July 14th. Describe Aberdeen briefly and talk about where the idea came from? Aberdeen is a music and storytelling show about a period in my life I lived in Aberdeen, WA and worked as a forester. I’ve been describing the show as an indie
rock concert, meets The Moth Podcast, meets The Twilight Zone. A lot weird and uncanny stuff went down in Aberdeen. I moved there to try to work out feelings of failure and grief after a death in my family and then I kind of fell in love with an eccentric couple who lived near me and I watched them go through similar stuff. I think about them all the time and it had a huge impact on my life. I started a lot of songs during that time and it’s always been in the back of my mind to finish them. Last year I decided it was time to pick up the project again. I tried to squash all those experiences into an album of pop songs. But an album just didn’t feel like it was a big enough container for the story. I sketched out a show and pitched it to my longtime visual collaborator Stefan - It would be a storytelling show, like a long episode of The Moth, but punctuated with music + narrative-advancing visuals. I
wanted to subvert expectations and make hilarating. the audience question reality. And that energy turned into the Aberdeen we’ll be You have played in Wenatchee before performing in Wenatchee on the 14th. yes? Yeah, I’ve played in Wenatchee with my Is the show more spoken word than band Lost Lander a few times. We’ve almusic? ways had really incredible shows at Caffe Its about half and half, plus visuals. I’ll be Mela and at Scott and Jenny’s house. The playing a bunch of new material and also people of Wenatchee have been great to songs from Lost Lander and my previous us. solo record Tigerphobia. Are you touring extensively with this How do these kinds of events differ show? from a typical band show, from a per- Hopefully! That’s the goal. I want to do it former’s stand point? as much as I can. They’re much more intimate, I guess. I get way more nervous because it’s pretty far Where can people find more informaout of my comfort zone and I don’t always tion? know how people are going to react. The Check out www.lostlander.space for more show is more polarizing than a typical details and tickets! C concert is. So, I guess it feels unpredictable which feels nerve wracking and ex-
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Howell at the movies: Bang for your buck reviews:
I
f only we could still sit on the hillside behind the Vue-Dale Drive-in with an FM radio and poach free movies. Movie night ain’t cheap, at least if you’re doing it old school - that is to say, getting into a car and taking your other out to an actual cinema. If you’re going big, you could be looking at $16 bucks a head for seats in the VIP, plus the extra buck per ticket they charge you for doing it yourself online (doesn’t it seem like they should BY jamie howell be paying us a buck apiece for not having to deal with us in person?). Right away you’re in for $34 and it’s no problem to meet or exceed that number on concessions (at least the white cheddar-flavored chemical flakes for your popcorn are included). And if you’re doing dinner out ahead of time, you’ll kiss a Benjamin good-bye faster than Mr. Rogers can get his trolley out. With no fewer than 17 movies screening across the Wenatchee Valley right now, you could conceivably spend $1,700 on movie nights in a single month. So it’s no surprise we flock to more affordable op-
tions these days. For $119 a year you get access to Amazon Prime’s library of flicks, although you risk being tempted into a $5.99 HD rental every time you want to see something more current. You can see how you fare for free on Crackle or Vudu or TubiTV. If old Kung Fu movies are your thing, your budget is safe and sound because an all-night movie marathon on AsianCrush.com or the Kung Fu Classics channel on Roku costs exactly zero pennies. And, of course, if you’re still rocking a DVD player, you can always RedBox a disk for a buck a day - just beware the extra bucks you’ll spend for forgetting to return the damned thing. Still, some movies are worth it. When you pay the big bucks for the big screen with the big sound to watch in the company of like-minded movie-goers and feel good about it afterwards, your money was well spent. But you’ve got to be choosy and I’m here to help. My methodology is simple - watch the trailer, go with your gut. You can (and should) do this for yourself, but here’s my spin through some current offerings, complete with a suitable dinner recommendation to help you get the gist:
in outer space in Gravity) so the ladies Dinner: Potluck can get their heist on (‘cause face it, males of the species, we’re done for a while). Best approach: VIP Splurge The skinny: Aging hunks hold onto their Dinner: Happy hour at Shakti’s youth through a lifelong game of tag. Best approach: Hulu (like next week) Dinner: Leftovers The skinny: Benicio Del Toro broods and mumbles through more cartel-taunting bad-assery complicated by a soft spot for The skinny: Movie predicts next Trump a little girl he just can’t kill. policy push. Best approach: Netflix in two months Best approach: Shoot yourself first Dinner: La Fuente Dinner: Trav’s (ask for the deep-fried gizzards)
Tag
Sicario 2: Day of the Soldado
The First Purge
Solo
The skinny: Han meets Chewie, early Star Wars escapades ensue. The skinny: Mr. Rogers dons his cardigan Best approach: VIP Splurge and reminds the world about the power Dinner: Death Star OG vape of kindness. Best approach: Wait’ll it hits PBS, but don’t miss it. The skinny: Chris Pratt stars as the dino- Dinner: Grilled cheese sandwiches whisperer while flirting with Ron How- dipped in tomato soup ard’s daughter. Best approach: 3D (so many jaws to snap at you!) The skinny: Super-powered nuclear famDinner recommendation: Applebee’s ily attempts stay-at-home Dad model. Best approach: 3D matinee (animation does it best) The skinny: Aging hotties read 50 Shades. Dinner: Abby’s The skinny: Sandra Bullock takes over Best approach: RedBox George Clooney’s role (after killing him
Ocean’s 8
Won’t You Be My Neighbor
Jurassic World
Incredibles 2
Book Club
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When to go big...and when to go home Life of the Party
The skinny: Melissa McCarthy, still funny, still fat, channels Rodney Dangerfield from “Back to School.” Best approach: Netflix it Dinner: Top Ramen
Overboard
The skinny: Anna Ferris flips what Goldie Hawn did better back in 1987. Drowninginduced amnesia goes to the rich male this go-round. Best approach: Free stream on Crackle unless you spot anything more interesting (like a televised pickleball tournament or a Chuck Norris infomercial) Dinner: Safeway Chinese
Hereditary
The skinny: Toni Collette makes creepy dollhouses for a Damian-esque daughter with mad murder skills. Best approach: Amazon Prime Dinner: Gummy worms
Adrift
The skinny: Love conquers shipwreck, borrows CG waves from “The Perfect Storm.” Best approach: For those in a brand new relationship - Full price date night; Everybody else - Couch streamer. Dinner: New lovers - Don’t eat, you’re trying to stay thin; Everybody else - Doritos
A Quiet Place
The skinny: Family chooses to live in total silence in house haunted by sound-sensitive demons instead of moving to a nice place in the ‘burbs. Best approach: Naw Dinner: Baby food (doesn’t crunch)
Ant-Man and The Wasp
The skinny: Teeny-tiny superheroes buzz about annoying the bad guys. Best approach: Big screen (so you can see them better) Dinner: Picnic Until next month, Enjoy the Show! C
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THE COMET
COMET TALES: rEADER SUBMITTED WRITINGS The edges
by katz Kiendl
We work on the edges, between borders that aren’t known to be shared. Grubbing away at weeds, beating back bushes, dropping trees that edge too far in We clean the lines, manicuring each nail, softening the bed, so when the flame touches the skin is scarred light. We are lucky though some work deep in the hole (not around the edges), in the very center. Where only long lines and bucket drops reach where logs are hauled, where skidders can’t yard and calling your line falls on deaf ears. The morning is still crisp here, and while we don’t dive in the center, the wind is just as bright. Asking you to remember something you just can’t quite recall, faint outlines and fuzzy notions of a color or shape that your hands once barely held. The aspens still quakes, still lines the borders, as it lines the hole. And its eyes still stare at you, with a knowing that your truths are unfolding, and your hands are tactile enough to mold dried clay. You can revisit some places even when the lake bed has dusted and the willows have cracked and there’s no more cottonwood to break but you cannot reclaim what is dead. It’s better this way because the center had so many holes. And the holes had so many ties with knots that never ended or finished with the right tail, trapping its bearer in both its use and creation. And the edges are just a line after all , with colors you have yet to paint in, anyway. Eyes open as the leaves quake, and whispers filter into your ear We work on the edges until we find our lay.
Trick Machine
by carrie wrights
It was summer, 1995, when my friend Sam got this job delivering blood and platelets to the hospitals around Phoenix. I didn’t think anything of it, until he pulled up in my parents driveway in a white Ford Taurus station wagon plastered with grinning blood drop decals. We’d been friends throughout high school, and still kept in touch every few months or so. But he was different this time—instead of jeans and a T-shirt, he was wearing business casual— khakis and a button up shirt. He’d cut his hair. I was glad he still smelled faintly of pot and wore the same black rimmed glasses. He said he was on a blood run to Black River and asked if I wanted to come along. I said yes, jumped in the car and rolled up the window—ready to be blasted by the A/C. He said we had to keep the windows cracked because the blood was packed in dry ice. “Why does that matter?” I asked. “Because it could suck the oxygen out of the car and we’d asphyxiate,” he said. “Forget about that or it‘ll ruin the drive.” So I asked him for the Beth update. He said they’d broken up. Last week they’d been fighting and decided to call it quits. In the morning she’d left a six inch ceramic angel in his car and moved to Portland. He couldn’t figure the angel thing out. “Was she saying you’re an angel? Did you ever call her angel? I don’t remember
you ever saying angel…” He said no, there was no angel association anywhere in their three years together. He wanted to ask her, but she wasn‘t answering her phone. He figured they could talk again—it’d been a week, so he called her parents’ house. Her dad said that she had married. “He didn’t just say that she had married, but he said, ‘She is married. To someone that we like,” Sam said. We stopped at a Circle K to get gas and Sam asked me what I’d like to eat. I told him about my food problem. “I can only eat blue foods. I don’t know what happened. I was on that thing where I had to avoid anything orange and then yesterday I couldn’t eat anything but blue.” We looked all over the store for something. I ended up with a raspberry blue slushie and some M&M’s. “Julie, there aren’t that many blue foods,” Sam said, “you might want to try green.” “I know,” I said, “but the blue is so soothing.” Sam paid with the Blood Services credit card and we left. After that we were stuck in rush hour traffic, barely moving for an hour. I told him about some of the miscellaneous guys I’d been seeing in the last few weeks. “My mom set me up on a blind date. She told him to meet me at my favorite restaurant, which was actually her favorite restaurant. I waited around forever, wondering why he was so late, when he finally came up and tapped me on the shoulder. Turns out I’d seen him before in the bar, but I’d thought he was a middle aged woman,” I said. We took the Wickenburg exit off the freeway, and lost most of the traffic of the I-10. It was August and the sun had already set, but it was still a hundred degrees. I turned up the air conditioner to full blast and rolled my window up a little more. I glanced at the boxes in the backseat; smoke swirled out from the seams. “Doesn’t that bother you?” I asked. He said he was getting used to it. He was making bank at this job. I shrugged and began telling him about the Italian guy. He was in his thirties, going for a business degree. He brought me chocolates that had little Italian sayings inside of the gold wrapper. He was from Modena. “That’s where they make Ferraris,” I said. “I know,” Sam said. “Well, sometimes he wears a full motorcycle racing suit to school,” I added. He was gorgeous, except when he smiled, he only had pieces of teeth. He took me to the State Fair in Phoenix, wearing a white sport coat and grinning. I wanted to go home right away, but I agreed to go on the chair lift ride. He went in for the kiss; he had one arm around me and he was leaning in. I put my hand up over my mouth and said, “I am frigid.” He leaned in closer and I whispered, “I meant to tell you before, I am frigid.” “What did he do?” Sam asked. “I think he liked it, he…” Right at that moment there was a loud BANG from the car. Sam sort of hiccupped, and I jumped, knocking some of the ice out of his cup. I thought it was glass from the windshield. There was another noise, and the car seemed to fall to one side. And then it couldn’t stop falling. It dove, nose down into the night, plunging into the ground. It kept flipping. I clenched my teeth and made my body into a fist. We were weightless, with dirt and glass flying up. I yelled to Sam and he said something, but then the roof crashed in, meeting the top of my head. It made a really bright sound. I wasn’t sure if it was the car or inside my head, but it felt like one of those old flash bulbs, like an old flash bulb going off right inside my brain. And then it was silent. I thought we were upside down until I stumbled out of the door and into Sam just as someone turned their headlights on us, silhouetting us. I looked at Sam— he was covered in blood. I screamed and started running my hands through my hair, across my face—sticky and matted. I couldn’t stop screaming. I grabbed onto Sam and tried to push away the blood in his hair, across his back, on his arms. He
THE COMET took my face into his hands and kept saying “It’s okay. It’s just the blood, we’re okay.” People were running toward us, asking if we were all right. Then they stopped short. Some of the dry ice had broken and smoke skirted along the ground. We looked like our own horror movie; except Sam was laughing and we were hugging like mangled twins. They put us in separate rooms at the hospital, which didn‘t seem like a big deal until I found myself laying there in a hospital bed thinking of all that blood dripping down on us. I kept thinking—all those people’s blood was all over me. Terrible images kept coming to mind. A couple of months ago there was this guy I met in a cigar shop. He’d shaved his eyebrows off and lived in his car. He offered to give me a ride to school and I took him up on it, even though he smelled like feet. He wanted to be a professional poker player, and he always wore the same black shirt and stonewashed jeans. I asked him where he got the money for gambling. He told me he sold his plasma twice a week. And then there was the blood drive in high school. I volunteered so I could miss second period. I sat at a table and ate popcorn and gave people apple juice and a sticker after they donated. But it wasn’t as easy as it sounds. I had to stomach the sight of all those people sitting in folding chairs reading Redbook and Guns and Ammo while the blood was being drained out of them. But the worst thing was Mr. Perry, my math teacher. He had horrible breath, like he was rotting inside. Occasionally, in class while sitting next to the overhead projector, he’d spray water into his mouth from a hairspray bottle, then smack his lips. “Deeee licious.” He played air baseball while we went over the answers on our homework. When he came to get his apple juice, he looked weird. I started to pour him a cup, and when I looked up I saw his eyes rolling back in his head. He fell backwards onto one of the blood girls. She screamed “We’ve got one! Got one!” Then he rolled off her and made a solid thwack onto the floor. He lay there while all the blood people swarmed around him. I walked over there. He’d peed on himself. I kept thinking of how slippery the blood was. When I was pushing it off my face, it only seemed to thicken and slide. It felt wet and dry at the same time, and hardened into the creases in my fingernails. I’d already taken a shower, but I could still feel it in my hands. And taste it. Blood tastes like metal. That was another problem. I couldn’t get that dull, salted taste out of my mouth. And it wasn’t like any other bad taste, like earwax or pennies. It has a whole other quality to it. It tastes like it’s never going to end. It tastes like it dives down further and further, like it knows everything. It tastes so black and dark like a cave where fish without eyes swim in the bottom of the ocean-like that darkness was siphoned and slipped into my own veins, cold. I felt a panic coming on. When the nurse came in I asked for a heated blanket. I wanted to have the sweat beading up so I could shower again and rinse the last particles off me. I wanted to feel like I was back on earth. Instead of that other feeling, like the car was still flipping. I felt like the whole earth was using me as a single point to pivot around. Like there was a deep current circling me, pulling at me. When the nurse’s aide came back, I asked for another heated blanket. “I want to sweat and get all the blood off me,” I said. She squinted for a moment and said “Don’t get dehydrated.” After a few more blankets I took another shower. I kept scrubbing at my skin, trying to feel better. But there was the stickiness of the blood, the tacky quality of it. Even as I’d pushed it away, it only seemed to smear and so I’d push some more and it’d keep smearing, like my face was rubbing off. I’ve never broken a bone, never had any kind of surgery. They said I didn’t weigh enough to donate blood and I was totally repulsed by it anyway, but at the accident, the blood had been cold. That made it worse. Dead people have cold blood. I told the next nurse who came in that I needed to get up. I needed to walk around for a while, maybe visit Sam. She said he was with the doctor right now and they‘d appreciate it if I didn‘t go in there, but the cafeteria down the hall was open. Anything not locked up was free for the patients. I put on an extra hospital gown and headed for the cafeteria. This was a small hospital—there was one big hallway lined in chalk drawings of horses stampeding and every department could be reached from there. I found the cafeteria easily. It was totally empty. There was blue yogurt in the freezer and some kind of fusion drink. I wandered around the dining area trying to figure out where to sit. It’s easier in a room full of people to know where you’re going to sit. But without anyone to avoid, I couldn’t decide, so I sat on the counter between a tray full of mauve water pitchers and the Otis Spunkmeyer cookies. I had a thing for those sugar cookies once. When I dropped out of high school I felt like I’d fallen off the map of my life, paralyzed to do anything. I spent most of my time cleaning my parents’ house. My one consolation was the perfect Otis Spunkmeyer sugar cookies they sold at the AM/ PM on the corner of my street. Every morning I bought three of them, until the sum-
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mer was gone and I started at the community college. The double doors opened. I scrambled to get down from the counter and knocked over the tray beside me. A dozen mini pitchers bounced and splattered across the floor, some of them had tea in them. A man in Dockers and a long sleeve shirt came in and laughed. He said he’d bring napkins. I gathered up the pitchers then reached behind the counter and found a roll of paper towels. He was a doctor, I read his name tag. “Emeric Golubic Resident Physician.” I unwound nearly the whole roll of paper towels over the spill while he swiped at it with a handful of napkins. “Hey, since you’re a doctor, um, I was in a car accident this evening, and ever since, every once in a while, I feel like I’m underwater and there’s this huge current, like the one that pulls the tide in and out, and I’m sucked up in it,” I said. He stood up and began pushing the paper towels around with his feet. “There’s some medication for that,” he said. “Ask your doctor.” He had sparkly eyes. They were blue, like the water in everyone’s dream vacation. “Aren’t you ever grossed out?” I asked. “Hm-mm,” he looked directly at me, “the human body is a miraculous instrument.” He gathered up most of the paper towels and pushed them into the drop lid on the trash can. I started to pick up the rest, but I felt lightheaded and stayed crouched on the ground. “Are you okay?” he asked. There was that feeling of spinning for a minute. And there were my hands with crusty blood, other people’s blood in the cuticles. “That’s a nice bump on your head,” he said, as he helped me stand. I let my hand drift to the top of my head. It was grotesque, like part of my head was bubbling. He picked up a cup of coffee and a napkin and said goodbye, walking out through the double doors. It occurred to me that beneath my own skin is more blood. I couldn’t even think about my own heart pumping in my chest. Pushing the blood through the arteries, the whole thing was unlikely, like pounding on a rock until it pushes out water. Touching things with my fingertips, feeling through the nerve endings, standing with my spine. Here I am walking around in this body filled with red water. I wanted to unzip my skin and spill out onto the floor. I thought about the muscle and the fat, and about putting lipstick on this body that will molder in the grave. I headed back through the hallway and to my room. I walked past the nurses’ station. They were talking in stage whispers to each other. “I told her I Wasn’t Going to play games with her anymore. I need forty hours.” “Yeah, I put in for days, and she said Wendy got in first.” I walked back to Sam’s room. He was sleeping. I really wished he wasn’t sleeping. I sat down in a chair by his bed and started kicking the side rail. It rattled and shook the bed. He didn’t wake up. “Sam, your friend is totally freaking out. Please wake up. Please wake up.” He didn’t respond, so I started talking anyway. “This blood thing has really screwed up my head. I guess I never thought about it, you know, but I’m speaking out of this face of hamburger meat with my head of hair like a pincushion that bleeds. I can’t stand even the thought of my own body right now. I’m completely grossed out. I feel like no one ever told me about this part, that I was going to be made out of bones and muscle. And all this time, you know, it’s like I’ve been spraying glitter on a cadaver. These bodies, this body is totally disgusting,” I said. He said something. I leaned in close to listen; it was a whisper. “That’s not even the worst of it,” he said. “There are microscopic worms that live in the ends of your eyelashes,” he took my hand. “They hold the eyelashes to your eyelid.” He pulled me toward him on the bed. “And your intestines, if you laid them out, they could stretch to the other side of this room.” I climbed in. I put my head against his chest. Out of that thin flap of skin in his throat, came a sound like the first ocean washing over me. “Julie,” he said, as I curled up next to him “I’ve figured the angel thing out—snow angels. On our first date, out of nowhere, she wanted to make snow angels so we…” but I was drifting as he spoke, free of all the pulleys and levers, the trick machinery, the joints and tendons that make up a body. I was something else. I was warm and then I was asleep. c
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WEDNESDAY, JULY 4, 2018
THE COMET
by ron evans
THE COMET
WEDNESDAY, JULY 4, 2018
CONTINUED IN THE NEXT ISSUE OF THE COMET
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WEDNESDAY, JULY 4, 2018
THE COMET
the spacepod: NEKKID IN THE REDWOODS
BY ron evans July is here. Some turn their minds toward summer vacations, fireworks, Wimbledon (anybody?) and hot dog cookouts on a beach. I think of something entirely more sinister although it, too, involves wieners. Allegedly. I speak of a clandestine meeting of rich, powerful or otherwise fancy-pantsed men. The Bohemian Club. Maybe you have heard of it but never really knew what it was. Perhaps this will all be new to you as it was to me about ten years ago. And perhaps, like me, you will forever see things differently from here on. I’m not going to go into the history much because I don’t have room, also I don’t wanna. But the parts you need to know really got cooking around the 1950s as rumors just started getting out about this secret meeting place, concerning “behind closed door” policy-making at the height of the Cold War. Several investigative journalists made attempts (with varying levels of bravado) to infiltrate the camp to see what was going on, but most of what we knew from the 2700 acre Redwood-ensconced camp came from members themselves. It would be hard to not brag about smoking Cuban cigars with Richard Nixon and Ronnie Reagan while watching a psychotic mock Canaanite ritual in honor of the giant stone owl god, Molech. Right? And yes. This all happened. More on that in a bit. Another source of the stories were employees at the camp. These men
were not the rich and famous after all, simply people that applied for a part-time summer gig in the woods. One, famously talked about a “bus-load” of young male hookers being brought in to satisfy some folks in the political wing. The camp is set up with different hierarchies of sorts with cutesy names like Hill Billies, Mandalay, Cave Man and the Owl’s Nest. Several workers actually came forth to talk about being sexually harassed by men in the club on a daily basis. Sophie Weiner wrote an excellent piece for Gawker on her time working at the grove including a story about Jeb Bush throwing a fit over not being to get a milkshake. “The asshole customer yelling at you about something out of your control could be our next president.” Weiner said. That’s a thought. These stories have piled up over the years to an almost cartoony level, as have tales of policy being set within the compounds. Of course this always gets denied and many people who admit (and most don’t) to being a member of the group, say it’s simply a place for men to retreat from the daily grind. This no-biz policy seems to greet visitors at the gate with an iron sign reading Weaving Spiders Come Not Here. Let’s go back to that owl god shit. In the late 1980s, a young investigative journalist and documentary filmmaker named Alex Jones snu...WAIT. Come back, let me finish. Yes I know all about Alex Jones and I’m not going to try to de-
fend anything he’s said or done, but love him or despise him, the man has exposed some pretty scary shit. Jones snuck into the Bohemian Grove and got some hairraising footage of The Cremation of Care ceremony. This freak show is right off the Vegas strip circa 2003. Pyros, music, enchantments and effigy burning all in the name of the Great Owl of Bohemia. This is what kicks off the three week retreat. It’s a thing to behold. Other batshit poeple have since infiltrated the parameters and captured more of the ceremonies along with a bit of drunken hijinks amongst the trees. The rampant tree-peeing got so out of hand that signs had to be posted designating No-Pee Zones. Boys. So what? A bunch of rich men chase each other nekkid in the redwoods, getting drunk, peeing on trees and partaking in wacky rituals. Big deal. Think about this though, if what we are presented with in the media when it comes to the highly polarized two-party system is correct, why would these guys all be buddies for a couple weeks in the Redwood forest? Who’s paying for all this? Let me guess. Also, many of the known members are powerful religious leaders. Why would they partake in such things? Even pretending to worship a stone god seems nuts for a Jimmy Swaggart type. Well... maybe not. But you get my point. Now, even Alex (the chemtrails are making the frogs gay!) Jones doesn’t seem to believe this is all real, but rather
a sort of bigger and more extravagant type of frat club bonding ceremony. I agree with that. But bonding them to what end? It just blows my mind that this happens every summer in Northern California and so few people talk about it. Even if the politicians never set one word of policy in there, and even if the stories of sex parties and busfulls of young male hookers is made up, and even accepting the mock child sacrifices as mere theatre - this is still a massive meeting of the most powerful men in the country. Dems, Repubs, Greens all represented there. Straight, gay, black (not many though) are also present. The famous people are likely there to make the truly powerful people feel cool, but their influence and money is certainly what makes them an important element. I don’t know. Maybe I’m just jaded and I find it easier to believe that American politics is as real as the WWF I used to watch as a kid. Maybe it really is just a blowing-off-steam camp for grown rich boys. But there’s something about the most powerful men in the country all hiding out in the woods together for a few weeks a year that I just don’t trust. Do you own research on this kooky story. Look up these videos online and decide for yourself. Now is the time to dive into it, they are preparing the massive cremation pyre as we speak. C
THE COMET
HOT AUGUST NIGHTS AT THE NUMERICA PAC
DON FOX DESIGNS, LLC
WEDNESDAY, JULY 4, 2018
JAIME DONEGAN PRODUCTIONS
Book by Terrence McNally, Music and Lyrics by David Yazbek, Based on the motion picture, released by Fox Searchlight Pictures, written by Simon Beaufoy, produced by Uberto Pasolini and directed by Peter Cattaneoe, Presented through arrangement with Music Theatre International
PRESENTED BY
AUGUST
2-4, 8-11, 15-18
Based on the cult hit film of the same name, The Full Monty, a ten-time Tony Award nominee, is filled with honest affection, engaging melodies and the most highly anticipated closing number of any show. PARENTAL GUIDANCE RECOMMENDED
www.NumericaPAC.org
5 0 9 - 6 6 3 -A R T S
Stanley Civic Center
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