Tune in to Air America at 8:34pm tonight to hear Tom Hart, Tim Kreider and myself on the Majority Report with Janeane Garofalo and Sam Seder.

Dateline: Somewhere on the Chesapeake Bay, Maryland.

While I'm having a blast on the tour, I've also gained a certain amount of empathy for musicians on the road who have to perform no matter what. I inhaled a wonderful, rich brunch on Sunday that consisted of what I will now refer to as the very large Omelette of Doom, among other savory delights. I spent the next several hours feeling unwell and unsure of my ability to put on a good show that night. Fortunately, I improved once we reached the KGB bar; some nice bubbly Pilsner Urquell seemed to help. As it turned out, the show went great. The place was packed, with people standing out the door. Everyone seemed in the mood to laugh, and we found ourselves wishing all our venues served alcohol. Some people were visiting from the UK; they seemed heartened by our cartoons.

Yesterday we drove down to Philly in dismal weather for our reading at Robin's Bookstore, a wonderful, sprawling place with a very kind staff. Turnout was a bit light, but the crowd was appreciative. Our setup was close to the gentlemen's magazine section, which I think may have frustrated at least one dude who could not discreetly grab his wank mag.

Off to DC today for our final show.

We located the article about our tour online.

I thought maybe I could eke out a strip while on the road, but I'm afraid it's a "classic" Slowpoke this week. Albeit a somewhat timely one, given the Republicans' recent vote against raising the minimum wage. Oh, you hadn't heard about that? But you've heard about some lady with a feeding tube, I'll bet.

Captains of Industry Speak

We drove up to New Haven today for our reading at Atticus Books. It was one of those days where things feel a little precarious, but everything works out in the end. I decided to break my cartoons up into single panels so they'd be easier to see; this involved frenzied editing on the laptop the entire way to New Haven. Between the brilliant sunlight and axle-bustingly shitty roads, it was difficult to execute delicate Photoshop commands, but somehow I prevailed (I'm now a master of Extreme Photoshopping).

We arrived to find a rather distressing shortage of chairs at our venue; I set about plucking chairs one by one from the cafe as people cleared out, which became something of a sport until I was told to stop. To be fair, the cafe was extremely busy. But providing chairs for a reading is kinda de rigueur, you know. Anyway, it turned out my extra chairs were almost enough, and the people sitting in front on the floor didn't seem to mind. And we were provided free sandwiches, to my delight. Free sandwiches are one of life's great joys.

There's a nice article about us in the New Haven Advocate this week, but I can't find it online.

Our KGB reading is listed as a recommended event in The Guide page of Sunday's Art & Leisure section. My NY Times debut -- oh yeah. Looks like our competition that day is someone who "makes videos of flashing and rolling patterns." Actually, that's in the afternoon, so you can catch the workshop on psychedelic video projection AND come downtown to see subversive political cartoons. What better way to spend Easter?

Dateline: NYC -- I've been meaning to post from the road more often than I have, but this past week has been an absolute whirlwind of travel, cartoons, and beer. I have to say, I'm having lots of fun. The seats were filled at our readings at the Rhode Island School of Design and Boston; tomorrow we hit New Haven. I think our gig at the KGB bar on Sunday here in New York may be crowded, so I'd advise getting there a little early.

There's a very nice article about our tour and political cartooning in general on CampusProgress.org.

I'll try to post in more detail soon.

Looks like we won't be on Tues. night after all. We might be on later in the week... stay tuned!

Time to head north for my cartoon tour with Tom Hart and Tim Kreider. I'll likely be posting updates on our travels. In the meantime, all our tour dates and other info can be found here:

http://www.laughwhileyoucan.info

Look out Firefox, the new web browsers are here!

Wary of the triumphalist neocon horn-tooting about democracy bustin' out all over? Juan Cole provides a nice reality check.

In response to my earlier post about Talon News (the propaganda site for which Jeff Gannon "reported") striking me as a bit fascist-sounding, a reader writes to endorse another form of fowl as our national symbol:

The eagle was the symbol of the Roman legions, and it is still the symbol of their weltenschaung. This was precisely why Ben Franklin nominated against the eagle... The Wild Turkey (a -native- bird, no less, one of this continent's great gifts to good eating) for National Winged Thing. Peaceable, wily and agile, with a strong familial sense and an ability to dissolve into the forest that remains legend, the wild turkey represents the future that Franklin and Jefferson imagined, as opposed to Hamilton's mercantile wet dream or Adams' de facto aristocracy.

The reader also provided this link to remarks by Ben Franklin favoring the turkey over the eagle. I don't know, making it our national symbol right now would probably be an insult to the turkey.

Drooly Julie and Jeff Gannon... they go together like peas and carrots. Or something. It crossed my mind that the strip might have been more timely a week or two ago, but since the mainstream media refuses to maintain any interest in this scandal, I say it's ALWAYS Gannon time.

Now, before anyone accuses me of suggesting in the cartoon that gays are perverts -- since crying homophobia has been the standard (and oh-so-ironic) right-wing line whenever progressives bring up Gannon -- let me just state that Gannon's homosexuality is NOT the issue (except in reference to his hypocritical gay-bashing). I have reviewed the Gannon sites in the name of staid academic research, and I submit that posting multiple photos of oneself urinating, from various angles, on the internet does actually qualify one as a bit of a perv. Not to mention all the other fleshy pics -- as Drooly says, "Holy beefcake, Batman!"

You know, I used to think Bush admin scandals were ignored by the media because they're always slightly complicated, difficult to translate into video, and lacking the poontang factor (see "How the Media Works" cartoon). But here we have a bona fide scandal involving a conservative prostitute! Uncanny how the MSM chose this particular moment to shy away from a sex story.

Rumor has it that I, along with fellow "Laugh While You Can Tour" cartoonists Tom Hart and Tim Kreider, will be appearing on the Majority Report with Janeane Garofalo and Sam Seder next Tuesday, March 22. Stay tuned for details.

Continuing with my earlier musing about the height of pom-pom sock popularity, it seems they may have directly preceded the rise of the tube sock. Robin writes:

I had every color of pom pom sock in the 70's - I wore them until the tube sock made it's appearance (Arnold T. was the first guy at my school to wear them) and I had to jump on that bandwagon. Also the shoes that came out around this time had a high lip in the back, making wearing the pom pom's quite difficult and sometimes painful!

Yes, though I was quite young at the time, I remember those high-lipped sneakers of the '70s. It's almost like the sneaker manufacturers were in collusion with tube sock purveyors to kill off the pom-poms.

From today's Times article, "G.O.P. Senators Balk at Tax Cuts in Bush's Budget"

President Bush's plan to extend his tax cuts over the next five years ran into resistance in the Senate on Wednesday as Republican leaders offered a budget for 2006 that would undo more than a fourth of the cuts that Mr. Bush has requested.

Uneasy about the potential impact on the ballooning federal deficit, the Senate Republicans called for $70.2 billion in tax cuts over the next five years, as opposed to the estimated $100 billion the White House is seeking.

Yes sir, that's some real belt-tightening. Balk, my ass!

Columbus Alive has a nice review of my book in their current issue. And they talk about Spongy!

Sorensen has collected cartoons that cleverly document America’s slip into insanity—and take it to its naturally absurdist conclusion. For example, in one strip, Spongy the Encephalopathic Politicow—a frothing, monosyllabic, slightly deranged beast—bests a Gore-like opponent because she surrounds herself with smart advisors and has a gentle mooing nature, despite obviously suffering from mad cow disease.

More here (scroll down).

Mat in France writes:

I was intrigued by your item about the sandals and socks pairing that causes (quite rightly so) some outrage in Charlottesville. The funny thing is, there seems to be a lot of German blood in Charlottesvillians, and over here (I'm French) Germans are known for causing widespread appalment by touring all of Europe's countries sporting this utterly tasteless combination, no matter what terrain (and what season) they choose to ramble. This trend seems to have survived the Great Trek West. This raises a frightful question: are there socks in genes?

Apologies to any German fans of Slowpoke. You are welcome to respond in defense of your country's footwear.

Shout out to central Virginians: I'll be giving a presentation at Java Java in Charlottesville next Wednesday, March 16 at 4pm as part of the Virginia Festival of the Book.

Thanks to Blogger support, it looks like my posting problem is fixed for now.

This week's strip is about our friend the tube sock (I felt like taking a break from politics). The cartoon pretty much speaks for itself, but I'll share a few background tidbits:

In the third panel, it is noted that the "controversial pairing of socks and sandals causes outrage in some communities." This is partly intended as an inside joke for readers of the C-VILLE Weekly (my local paper) who have been following the great socks-and-sandals debate in the Rant section. In The Rant, readers call in and leave a message about things they find irritating. Apparently lots of Charlottesvillians are deeply averse to the sight of stockinged feet in open-toed shoes.

I did a bit of Googling to find out the glory years of the pom-pom sock (panel five). I never did determine when that particular fashion was at its peak, but I did come across this site: someone's patent registration for "decorative socks with three-dimensional ornaments and related indicia." Allow me to quote:

While pom pom socks have appealed to consumers, especially women and children for many years, they have a major deficiency. This deficiency stems from the fact that pom poms typically come in a basic spherical configuration having limited flexibility in configuration. Accordingly, although pom poms, which are easily found in arts and crafts supply stores, can be decorated with glitter, sparkles, rhinestones, cut-outs etc., they generally cannot themselves be formed into complex shapes, including animal heads, stars and the like. Accordingly, what a user is left with is a dressed-up fuzzy ball.

I just found that somewhat amusing.

Lastly, as my friend Tim J. has pointed out, my Apple iSock in the last panel is not quite the break from reality that I thought. It turns out Apple really has released iPod socks. They are (as one Amazon reviewer writes) essentially a cozy for your iPod. What's a cartoonist to do?

In my inbox today:

From: ass get nailed
Subject: This Butt-Bunny is an up-and-cummer...

Kick-ass political cartoonists coming to a town near you (maybe)! We've added an event in Boston.

Providence - Wednesday March 23
Rhode Island School of Design, 4pm.
Two College St. (401) 454-6100

Boston - Thursday March 24
Million Year Picnic, 4pm. (Signing only)
99 Mt. Auburn St., Cambridge. (617) 492-6763

Lucy Parsons Center, 7pm.
549 Columbus Avenue. (617) 267-6272

NYC - Friday March 25
Jim Hanley's Universe, 6 pm. (Signing only)
4 West 33rd Street. (212) 268-7088

New Haven - Saturday March 26
Atticus Bookstore Cafe, 4pm.
1082 Chapel St. (203) 776-4040

NYC - Sunday March 27
KGB Bar, 7pm.
85 East 4th St. (212) 505-3360

Philadelphia - Monday March 28
Robin's Book Store, 7pm.
108 S.13th Street. (215) 735-9600

Washington, DC - Tuesday March 29
Warehouse Theater, 7pm.
co-sponsored by Olssons Book Store
1021 7th Street NW. (202) 783-3933

More info here. I must say, it's going to be a lot of fun. Abundant thanks to the kind souls who've volunteered to put up some flyers in NYC and Philly. Anyone else up for grunt work and free books, let me know.

To continue with yesterday's discussion of this week's cartoon, an "old Navy guy" -- interestingly enough -- named Nicholas Pisano makes a great point about women and science over on Eric Alterman's blog (sorry for the huge cut-and-paste job, but the post will rotate off Alterman's site soon):

Let's start with some basic facts. (Creationists and Intelligent Design types need read no further). Homo sapiens has been around for about a million years give or take a couple hundred thousand. Human civilization may have begun about 100,000 years ago with early hunter-gatherer societies. Agriculture developed about 10,000 years ago; urban society about 6,000 years ago. Modern formal education was not introduced to Western Civilization until late in the 12th century and consisted mainly in reintroducing the lost classical knowledge from the Greek, Roman and Egyptian civilizations. Public education was a concept unknown until the mid-19th century -and it is still under attack in many ways. The education of women was not accepted in the most advanced Western societies until the early-20th century and even there it was not uniformly applied (and still not widely accepted in the world). Modern mathematics and science as we would recognize it today weren't even introduced until well into the 19th century in those same societies and -as in my side comment on Creationist and Intelligent Design non-science- also under continuous attack. Women were banned from advanced education and certain professions through de jure and de facto discrimination well into the 1960's -and it's not as if we've achieved in the year 2005 the perfect egalitarian and non-discriminatory society in terms of sex, race or class.

So the question why there are not as many women as men in the disciplines of math and science seems ludicrous on its face... We can forgive Summers his humanness and limitations. On the other hand, he should just think before opening his mouth again -and use that high priced education to ask more compelling questions.