Spit and Passion: Cristy C. Road Takes You Back to Middle School (And You Love It)

I remember the first time I cam across Cristy C. Road's postcards. One of them had a picture of two punk kids making out while one of them stood in a dumpster. It said Croadcore on it.

I stared at it for a long time. I bought it from my friend who had set up a table for his fledgling distro at the show I was at and I remember staring at it many times before actually mailing it to someone. The picture was as compelling as a story or a song might be. Every line was invested with a visible emotion. It was the kind of picture that seemed to have a life of its own. I could look at it a relive the moment in the drawing over and over again.

Now, god help us, this same artist is bringing her gifts to bear on autobiographical comics. I just finished Spit and Passion, her recent graphic novel about how her love of Green Day helped her come to terms with her queer identity as a Cubana middle schooler in South Florida. It's so doggedly honest in word and image that it completely took me back (kicking and screaming) to the weird, liminal frame of mind that I occupied between the ages of 11 and 13. I found it so intense I could only read it a few pages at a time in my most relaxed state. So worth it, though.

It's a memoir, but it's also one of the best things I've read about music in a long time. She's so unrestrainedly goofy, specific and insightful in exhuming this story about discovery and survival that it made me want to go back and listen to Dookie or even American Idiot.

Right now, I'm pretty into her tarot card series too.

Studs and Broads and Coffee with Avi Spivak

 

Today I get to plug one of my new favorite things and one of my old favorite things in on post! Visionary rock 'n' roll illustrator Avi Spivak is having an art show at Otha's, a new coffee place by my apartment that has strong coffee minus BS, which is unusual in the area. I am pumped and that's not just the caffeine talking.  Go to the opening. Drink the coffee.

Dear Natalie Dee

www.nataliedee.com

Don't ever change.

Yours Always,

Bad Idea Potluck

Dumb Comix/Rocknroll Zines

Cassie Ramone has a zine. It's called Shitty Reality, and it is now into its second issue. Shitty Reality #1 is a loose collection of rad Vivian Girls-esque-abilia, like weird postcards and photos from on tour and even weirder drawings. Number 2 is out now and those of you lucky enough to catch the band on its current tour can pick it up.

I'm starting to prefer picking up my reading material at shows. Even the ones I was too lame and sleepy to go to. (It's always time to rocknroll, unless it is time for a nap.) For instance, recently my boyfriend went to see Holy Shit and all I got was this dumb comic. But I really like it. It's a split comic between Matt Chicorel from Holy Shit and Travis Thompson from Thomas Function (who actually seems to have left the band).

Thompson's half of the volume Drop Dead Dumb is pure degenerate comic joy. The artwork marries the high manner of Dan Clowes to the weird-ass energy of Evan Dorkin, and the story told will absolutely not improve your mind. Buzzpop, the other half, was actually a little stylized for my taste, but as we say around here, cold coffee is better than no coffee and I've been a little hard up for funny papers lately.

My sister made this for me.

What has your sister done for you lately?

You: throwing away an illegal handgun

I received a copy of I Saw You as a gift. It features short comics based on Craigslist "missed connections" ads and the concept of a missed connection in a broader sense. It features comics by everyone who is anyone in the world of indie comics and it is consistently entertaining. This is because it is edited by Julia Wertz, who does The Fart Party. More information HERE.

Just like I Saw You, the actual missed connections page on Craigslist is consistently entertaining and occasionally sweet/creepy. Most postings are more erotic than the one I found today:

Me: Radio, blue suit, screaming. You: throwing away an illegal handgun - m4m - 24 (Harlem / Morningside)

Our eyes met for a minute, and when I stopped to talk to you, you yelled "oh shit!", threw away your Hi-Point C9 and ran like a son of a bitch, vanishing somewhere into the housing projects. I stopped to recover the gun you dropped, and you left without giving me a chance to get your name, address, phone number, and depriving me of giving you the chance to plead to two years probation.

Anyway, just wanted you to know that I recovered your gun, and I'll be keeping an eye out for you. Hope we meet again soon!

Camping (BIPL loves cartoons)

This is the first in the Camping comic series by Vim Crony. It appears in Shotgun Seamstress #3 with more to come. The pictures are hard to read but if you click on them you can see a bigger version. We're posting it here so you can check it out if you want to and also because this is kind of a positive-type comic and maybe we have a secret positive side. We have been lucky enough to see some of the other sketches for Camping and we are excited to see the next strip. That, and Mr. Crony has contributed to Bad Idea Potluck in the past and we wouldn't mind if he did it again one day.

May We Also Suggest

Sure, there's the comic. But watching the animated pilot might take even less time. And watching the trailer on this blog might be even shorter.