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(26 June)  ITEM: I got one more YouTube video for you to see... or, more precisely, listen to.  Remember a while back, I mentioned that a band called Promon did a song called "Bruno Bandit".  Well, I found it a few weeks ago, and thought I should share it with you.  Some nice music to read Bruno by! :-)  I can't really say the song puts me in mind of my comic, so I doubt my strip inspired it (unless anyone from Promon is reading this, and would care to correct me), but, for curiosity's sake, here it is!  Get ready to shake your tailfeathers to this one:

ITEM: Time for some more awesome Bruno fan art!  This piece comes to us from Danielle R, aka Skelebug on the Bruno Message Board!  Danielle is currently working on a fan story about Numth'kul for me, which I hope to have on my site some time after it's completed.  In the meantime, here's a Numth'kul pin-up that'll spook you out:

P.S. If you want to see more of Danielle's art, click here!

ITEM: Any Facebook fans out there?  Well, I have good news for you!  There is now a Facebook page devoted to Bruno the Bandit.  Membership is small at the moment, so hopefully we'll have a lot more of you "jine up" before too long!  Hey, maybe I'll have some exclusive material on this page some time down the road!  Best become a member, so ya don't miss anything! :-)  Let's all raise a flagon of "Bandit's Brew (Finest Gulping Vintage)" to Mathias Norman for creating this page!

(1 June) Thanks again for your patience, with regards to my reduced Bruno schedule!  I really hated having to cut it to once a week, so I am really happy to be able to go back to my regular "three times a week" routine, starting with the next story!  That said, I expect to be doing a fair bit of travelling over the summer, so I may end up missing the odd week here and there.  But I'll try to build up a buffer of strips, so this happens as little as possible.

And my apologies for not updating the Tribune recently.  The truth is, I haven't had a whole lot to talk about lately.  I suppose I could weigh in on politics and/or religion, as I am wont to do every so often, but at the moment, I'm just not in the mood to do so.  As for what's going on in my life, not a whole heck of a lot, really.  The truth is, I'm really leading a boring-ass existence these days.  Have you seen the Garfield Minus Garfield website yet?  It's scary how much Jon Arbuckle's life mirrors mine when a certain fat orange house cat is removed from the picture.

So, with naught else to talk about, I thought I'd share with you six of my favorite YouTube videos!  These are all great, but if you don't have enough time to watch 'em all, at least watch the last one on the list.  You will remember it 'til the day you die!!  Anyway, without further ado...

1. Lia Sounds Off on For Better Or For Worse

Like Lia in the video, I read Lynn Johnson's For Better Or For Worse every day, due, it seems to some masochistic streak my psychiatrist hasn't been able to root out of me yet.  Lia is similarly afflicted, but has decided, as a form of therapy perhaps, to share with us what she finds so appalling about FBOFW.  If you're also hooked on, yet nauseated by FBOFW, you need to see this video:

P.S. If you want to see more of the lovely Lia snarking off on FBOFW, click here! 

2. Peanuts "Hey Ya"

Two geniuses named Ryan King and Dan Hess took the Outkast song "Hey Ya", and made a video for it, using clips from A Charlie Brown Christmas.  What would Charles Schulz have thought, I wonder?

3. The Muppet Show - Tit Willow

Rowlf the Dog talks a reluctant Sam the Eagle into singing a duet of Gilbert & Sullivan's "Tit Willow".  This is Jim Henson and Frank Oz at their very best!

4. Bert and Ernie, Casino-style

Still with Muppets, Henson and Oz had nothing to do with this one!  Instead, Bert and Ernie "re-enact" a scene from the movie Casino.  Warning: FOUL langage ahead!!!

5. Saturday Morning Watchmen

If you love the Watchmen graphic novel as much as I do, you don't wanna miss Harry Partridge's reimagining of the Comedian, Nite Owl, Rorschach and their pals as stars of a Saturday morning cartoon show!  I'd love to know what Alan Moore would think of this video!  Can you spot all the in-jokes?

6. Muscle March

Okay folks, this is why God gave us YouTube!  Where else would we get to see the trailer for this Japanese videogame for the Nintedo Wii!  Mere words cannot describe what you are about to see, so without further ado...

Welp, those are some of my YouTube faves, what are yours?  Be sure to post 'em on Bruno's Message Board.  Then again, I'm not sure I should be asking!  I could easily spend the rest of my life surfing YouTube, if you let me!

(16 March) Sorry gang, no new strips this week, and probably nothing for next week either.  My job with RGIS is keeping me away from the drawing board, for the most part.  I usually prepare Bruno a week ahead, but this past week I had to go back to Corner Brook for another inventory count.  I could have returned home on Thursday, but I decided to stay on the west coast, and visit relatives in Stephenville.  Just got home yesterday.  But I'll be heading out again this Tuesday, for counts in the towns of Botwood and Wesleyville.  As a heads up, April promises to be even busier!  I'll see what I can do to keep the story going, but I hope you'll bear with me during the dry spells.  As always, your patience and understanding are most appreciated during this time.

In a way, I'm kind of glad for the break from the "Tito the Thief" story.  I have to say, none of my stories has made me as uncomfortable as this one has!  I've had g&y characters appear in my strip before, but this is my most gay-centric story yet.  But as squeamish as it's made me feel, I don't regret introducing (or perhaps I should say "outing") Tito.  As an artist, I like to challenge myself, and as such, this has been the most challenging story I've written in a long time.

Still, I have yet to shake my feelings of discomfort with this story.  I very nearly was unable to draw the billboard in this strip, especially the lads on the left.  I was not raised to be a homophobe, but I guess homophobia is still so engrained in our society that there's no way to avoid picking up on at least some of it.  Hey, it's still a terrible "insult" to have someone call you a homosexual (or one of the associated derogatory terms), particularly if you're not.  Maybe one day "homophobe" will be the insult instead.  Or better yet, maybe one day no one will even know what a homophobe is.

But here's what's weird: I could draw a gory battle scene, chock full of berserkers and barbarians hacking off limbs and lopping off brainballs left, right and center, and not bat an eyelash.  But if I draw some gay characters, I feel uncomfortable.  What's up with that??

I remember a Keenspot controversy from a few years ago, when one cartoonist submitted a Newsbox showing two young men kissing.  Some other Keenspot cartoonists didn't care for it, and for that day, removed the Newsbox from their sites.  Now I do support the right of any Keenspot cartoonist not to have any Newsbox on their sites if it really bothers them.  To a point, of course.  I mean, if every second or third day I was removing the Keenspot's Box O' News because it bothered me, then it would be time for me to leave the 'Spot.  But I digress...

The Newsbox in question made certain cartoonists uncomfortable, and did cause quite a stir among the readers, as I recall.  But, if instead of two men kissing, the Newsbox showed the two men trying to kill one another, there would have been no controversy whatsoever.  Doesn't that show how frigged up our values are?  If two men kissing is "unnatural", then isn't two men trying to kill one another a million times more so?  No matter how much you may disagree with homosexuality, would you rather have two men kiss one another than two men try kill one another?  Shouldn't depictions of men trying to kill one another be more offensive to us than men showing affection to one another?  If you disagree, then I'd love to hear your reasoning.

But hey, what about two women showing that special kind of affection to one another?  I hate to say it, but this Sinfest strip says it all for me.  Perhaps I should've given Bruno a female cousin, and made her a luscious lipstick lesbian.  'Twould be more fun to draw, and probably bring in more readers, too!  Is it too late to restart this story...? ;-)

(19 January) The good news is, I have a new job!  The bad news is, this will tend to frak up Bruno's publishing schedule, at least 'til April, possibly beyond!

Dunno if any of you from the St. John's branch of Western Inventory are reading this, but you'll no doubt be very surprised to find out that I took a job with Western's rival, RGIS!  I could very easily have called up my boss at Western and asked for my old job back, and chances are, they'd have put me to work the next day.  I loved working at Western and I love the people there.  But, some people I know work with RGIS, and they told me that the pay there is better, and there's more work, especially during the busy season!  Apparently, there's a lot more travel involved, too!  As such, I'm going to be away from my art desk and computer a lot more often for the next few months.  Today, I am on my way to Corner Brook, on the west coast of Newfoundland.  The cool part is, as was the case with Western, I get paid just to sit in the company van for the ride, as well as have all my eats and lodgings taken care of.  Still, there's something of a rivalry between Western and RGIS.  I haven't told any of my Western friends that I've "gone to the Dark Side".  Heck, I kinda feel like a traitor...

So, my apologies in advance for the fact that, for the next little while, this will force me to skip a few days/weeks/whatever here and there!  I have to skip this week, and possibly next.  I may go back to a one-strip-per week schedule for the next few months, if I find myself having to skip too many weeks at a time.  Thanks as always for your everlasting, ever-loving patience and understanding!  I hate keep frigging up Bruno's schedule, but the new job offers me something Bruno doesn't: a regular paycheque!

In the meantime, if you're looking for something to tide you over while waiting for Bruno to return, I highly recommend you check the blog of one Andrew Rilstone.  Mr. Rilstone has to be one of the most entertaining, witty, and intelligent writers I've read in a very long time!  If you're a Dave Sim fan (you know who you are), you'll want to go here. Harry Potter fans may wish to approach this section with caution, however.  But my favorite part of the blog has to be A Sceptic's Guide to Richard Dawkins, in which Sir Andrew bats the dear Professor and his recent bestseller around as a cat would a ball of yarn.  I can haz theizm, indeed!

(24 November) Apologies to everyone, for not having new material this week (and I figure I may need next week off too.  We'll see).  Hey, I need some time to recover after the recent "Civil War" epic!  And now I gotta figure out what's next for Bruno and company.  Yes, Rothland is now a "democracy", thanks to Bruno.  But I'm not sure I want to plunge into the kingdom's first election just yet.  I have a few ideas for a small break from the current story arc.  But, as I say, we'll see...

ITEM: You'll be happy to know that the writing is all finished for Spirit of Newfoundland's upcoming Christmas show Grinch, Dressing & Gravy.  I must take this opportunity to thank Peter Halley and Kathie Hicks for giving me this opportunity to co-write this play.  The show opens this Thursday night, and I must say, I'm rather nervous about it.  Will my attempts at humor translate as well to the stage as (I think) they do to comic strip format?  At least I'll get to see the full dress reheasal on Wednesday night, and I'll try to get some pics for you as well!  And I'll link to any reviews of the show I happen to find online.  But any bad reviews I'll host here on my site, and edit them so they're good reviews.  I'm sure the reviewers won't mind...

ITEM: My friends Robin Reed and Mike Dominic collaborated on a project you should all be aware of.  Mike drew the cover for Robin's new book Powers Vs. Power, which is the first volume of prose short stories set in a super-hero world.  I admit I haven't read the book yet, but the preview has enticed me to pick up a copy at my earliest convenience.  To check out the preview, and mebbe even buy the book, click here, please!

ITEM: Hope it's not too late for me to comment on the recent U.S. election.  I was not sorry to see the Republicans unable to take the White House this go 'round.  But in truth, I was expecting the same shady voting shenanigans that we saw in 2000 and 2004, with John McCain gaining the same sort of electoral "victory" that got George  W. Bush in to the White House.  While it would have been amusing to have Sarah Palin around for four years, I don't know that the country (or the rest of the world, for that matter), could stand four more years of neocon rule.  Hopefully Sarah will be back in 2012 to provide us with more laughs as she makes a bid to be the Republican presidential candidate.  The Keenspot Store already has the jump on her campaign, as they're selling "Sarah Palin/Joe the Plumber in 2012" t-shirts.  Get yours today to prove you're a "Real American"!

So Barack Obama is the prez-elect, huh?  I don't recall seeing so much jubilation over the election of a new president before, within the U.S. and without.  It will be quite the change to see an actual grown-up in the White House, after 16 years featuring a horny adolescent followed by a spoiled child using the Oval Office as their personal playroom.  But beyond that, how much of a change will we really see?  I'm afraid I don't trust politicians of any stripe.  I'm not keen on seeing any of them treated with the adulation reserved for rock stars, messiahs, and cartoonists.  My point is not that we should hate all the bastards (tempting as that may be sometimes), but that we should always regard them with the ol' proverbial "jaundiced eye", especially if they are the ones we voted for.  We want them to do well, but we shouldn't make excuses for them when they start going against the very values we wanted them to uphold, and ignoring the promises they made to get themselves elected.  Over the past 8 years, the Bush administration proved itself to be the most anti-conservative and I would argue, anti-Christian administration America has ever seen.  Yet, sadly, who were some of its staunchest supporters?

Change was the big keyword for Prez-elect Obama, and it got him a ticket to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.  But, does he really mean it, or was he just playing on the hopes of so many Americans to clean up the horrid mess left by Bush and company?  What is President Obama (and the Democrats) going to do about the mistakes/wars in Iraq and Afghanistan?  Will war with Iran be averted?  Will America start adhering to the Geneva Conventions once again?  Will he restore the U.S. constitution back to its rightful place as the basis for American law?  Will he continue the practice of bailing out some of America's largest corporations (and wealthiest CEO's), and not holding them accountable when they frig everything up?   Will the middle class keep on disappearing as the gap between rich and poor widens? And, will Bush, Cheney et. al. be held accountable for all the crimes they committed during their eight years in office?

As I believe our governments in the "free world" are in the pocket of big business, I doubt President Obama will do much of anything to "bite the hand that feeds him".  There are, I suspect, too many vested interests that would like to see the status quo maintained.  Any changes made will be of the "band-aid" variety, I figure.  Hey, I'd like to see him make a liar of me here!  If he does indeed have the power to affect real change, then those who voted for him are the ones who will need to keep his feet to the fire, as it were.  If they just make excuses for him and lash out at any legitimate criticisms of him, then we shall probably just see at least four more years of business as usual.

That said, I have heard that Obama is a comic book geek, who collects Conan and Spider-Man comics.  Those are my two favorite comic book heroes as well!  So maybe there's hope for the guy yet!  Maybe he'll rule America the way King Conan ruled Aquilonia.  The neocons in the United States are down, but not out, thus I'd recommend Obama reread his copies of "The Phoenix on the Sword" and "The Hour of the Dragon", just in case...