This is the weekly dispatch from Bizarro Studios North, where I have been writing and drawing the Monday through Saturday Bizarro comics since 2018. My partner and friend Dan Piraro created Bizarro in the late twentieth century and continues to do the Sunday comic from Rancho Bizarro in Mexico.
Wayno
Humanity is acquiring all the right technology for all the wrong reasons.
Buckminster Fuller
Over the years, I've developed a limited capacity with technology. I use Photoshop daily to make comics, mainly to clean up and color analog art and format it for print and online publication.
If Photoshop were a hardware store the size of a city block, I'd be the guy happily working with a wooden yardstick and a couple of screwdrivers.
Last month, I made a simple comics process video using my computer. It turned out all right, considering I was manipulating files while narrating in real time via my display's built-in microphone. It sounded a little muffled and boomy, but it did the job.
Next week, I'm scheduled to live-stream a video chat with my colleague Jamar Nicholas and his partners Mike Manley and Steve Conley on their YouTube channel, Pencil to Pencil. After Jamar invited me, I invested in a separate microphone for improved sound.
The mic remained untouched for three weeks after arriving. On Wednesday, I unboxed it, set it up, and made test recordings. The echo feature was maxed out, making my first attempt sound like I was trapped in a well.
Eventually, I adjusted the settings to where it made decent recordings, and I felt an unjustified sense of accomplishment.
The conversation with Jamar, Mike, and Steve will be archived on the Pencil to Pencil channel. If it's not too embarrassing, I'll share a link.
My fingers are crossed that my work area won't require any new attachments for a while.
Bucky Fuller has been dead for over forty years. I wonder what he would think of this century's technology.
This week's pipe pic is a cheerful Boris Karloff, photographed around 1936.
Let's review my latest analog-to-digital creations.
Speaking of Boris Karloff's iconic role, Monday's gag imagined a monstrous visit to the barbershop for the ultimate flattop style.
Quite a few people assumed that the barber was based on the Floyd Lawson character from The Andy Griffith Show, and there is some resemblance.
The Grammar Police were off-duty on Tuesday, but the Spelling Police were out making traffic stoops.
No music is required, either.
Hey, it works for the human recruits.
Long ago, I worked in a traditional office setting and was given assignments that made less sense. There's a level of corporate management that doesn't produce, plan, or direct anything of consequence. They feel the need to create meaningless activities and tasks for those reporting to them, believing that this justifies their salaries.
When a large number of American citizens switched to remote work and were shown to be more productive than they were in the office, the in-betweeners collectively panicked and scheduled countless video chats and conference calls to appear to be doing something.
Having experienced that in the past, I truly realize how lucky I am to be working from my home studio drawing cartoons for you.
As long as they continue to hold tiebreaker votes, they can't do any harm to the rest of the world.
Bonus Track
From the Rain Dogs LP
Island Records, 1985
Much More Bizarro Madness
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Copyright© 2025 by Wayno®
"My pal Ralph Carney played on it long before we met, though he didn't appear on this particular song."
ReplyDeleteSeems like maybe someone has been enjoying the pipe of ambiguity.
Hey Wayno, you might want to check a couple of the links - two of them don't go anywhere, but refer back to this page.
ReplyDeleteOtherwise, I doubt our brain evolution has caught up with our technological advances, so I'll go with the low hanging fruit. Peace