Remnants is a new series of cartoons I am starting for the book. I am about halfway done with the first one. Remnants is basically Dougside done smaller. I have a bunch of leftover pieces of bristol board that I had cut down from larger pages. These are too small to make a full size 10" x 15" page that I usually work with, but too large to throw away. They are a good size for 3-4 panel strips though and I thought I'd give it a try. When I first started cartooning way back when I had always done comic books, so my storytelling has always been geared toward full page layouts. In college, just before I started doing Dougside, I did do a few "strip" style cartoons. These were done in conjunction with a politcal column by Jim Geraci for Generation Magazine called "On The Sly Side". Jim wrote them and I drew them, making a few adjustments to help make it fit the format better. I think I only did about 5 or 6 of these during the semester since his column wasn't in every week, so my experience with this format is very light. but I am excited to give it another go. I have a bunch of strip ideas that don't really seem like they'd be right for a full page, but in a 3-4 panel format they would be perfect. They are also easier to draw. I wrote, layed out and started inking/lettering in just one evening and am about halfway done already!

I am excited about getting these done and will be scanning these in and posting them on the regular website as they occur.

Keep your eyes peeled for these little tasters of the latest Dougside book.

I am gearing up for re-opening the Dougside store at Cafepress soon. It will be a bit more limited than last time, but should be cool. I will probably only be offering a few things at a time for constricted periods of time. I'll let you know when this gets off the ground.

Curling season is coming up soon which means that my proposed video documentary of the Albany Curling Club's 50 year history is going to get underway very soon. Will mean a lot of work, but should be fun.

Talk to you all soon,


---Doug

Don't forget to vote on November 2!

Last month after more than 22 years from its first release, Talking Heads landmark double live album The Name Of This Band Is Talking Heads finally is released on CD! Also available on iTunes!Check it out!

I guess I can finally give up on my project to transfer over my LP copy to CD on my computer!

I have some minor things to report about my comic strip and my quest for publishing my 200 page monster volume. Nothing too exciting or urgent, so maybe they are best left for next time.

talk to you all soon,

Don't forget to vote Nov. 2!

---Doug

Hey gang,

Checking in with the latest and the greatest news about me and the comic strip.

Life has a funny way of taking over sometimes. I have been running ragged at home and away the last few weeks and haven't even sniffed the inkcap on my desk in a while. Rest assured that I will be back at work quite soon. I just have to make it through this weekend when we have a birthday bash for Alena who turned the grand old age of 1 yesterday. She was quite the birthday diva too. I'm not sure that she likes ice cream yet. It may be too cold for her, so she makes the funniest face when she puts it in her mouth! I'm sure she'll get the hang of it.

Tonight I am charged with putting together some kind of slideshow for the party! Should be fun!

In the meantime, check out the NEW G5 iMac! It rocks!

---Doug

Stan Ridgway's New CD on iTunes! Check it out brothers and sisters!

Brian Eno now on iTunes! Check it out!

I took advantage of the sugar high i was on after seeing the American Idol Live concert last night at the Pepsi arena here in Albany and stayed up late to finish my latest strip! This is the quickest turnaround for any strip I have done since my deadline-filled days back at Nightlife Magazine in Buffalo. Which is actually pretty sad since it took me several weeks...but it is done! Now to move onto the next one! I have been feeling more focused on getting my book done lately, and that is a good sign. i am already looking forward to slapping together the next bunch of strips! i have several ideas sketched out in my sketchbook and a few that I have scribbled on napkins and other sundry scraps of paper ephemera.

A few words about the American Idol concert last night...

I had a much better time than I expected and a few of the performances bordered on awe-inspiring with their vocal pyrotechnics. Ultimate season 3 winner Fantasia Barrino continually proved why she deserved it, belting out with both power and passion, something that her fellow Idol divas lacked on a regular basis. this is not to say that Diana DiGarmo, Jennifer Hudson, and LaToya London were bad, but they were missing that spark that seperated Fantasia from them. The biggest surprises were fan faves Jon Peter Lewis and John Stevens. JPL brought his incredible charm and stage prescence to the show and it was noticeble missing when he was backstage. He put on an incredible version of Outcast's Hey Ya that, to me was the highlight of the evening. John Stevens, the red-headed crooner from Buffalo really redeemed himself after the critical drubbing he took during the show. He stuck to the classics he is so good at and really played to his strengths. His versions of My Funny Valentine and Come Fly With Me would have made old blue eyes himself proud.

The American Idol concert tour was sponsered by Poip-Tarts and they didn't let you forget it, hitting us over the head with a constant barrage of commercials and ads showing up on the huge screen above the stage during the 20 minute intermission halfway through the performances. I guess I should complain too loudly, they did hand out free Pop Tarts at the end of the show! The oddest thing though was a new music video they showed from...VANILLA ICE! He's back, apparently, with a new version of Ice Ice Baby which this time is set to the melody and riffs of She Drives me crazy by Fine Young Cannibals instead of the David Bowie/Queen classic, Under Pressure. Very surreal and made me laugh out loud at the absurdity of it all.

I am 3 days into my 38th year and I am just getting started.

---Doug