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
We could have saved the Earth, but we were too damned cheap.
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Vonnegut might have been both amused and horrified by a conference here in Pittsburgh this week. Its title, "The Pennsylvania Energy & Innovation Summit," is a prime example of 2025 Newspeak. The organizers' idea of "innovation" is the suppression of education and research, and the quashing of clean energy in favor of antiquated and environmentally harmful fuels that put more money into already over-stuffed pockets.
A (once) respected University hosted the event, whose guest speaker fell asleep after stunning attendees with a rambling fantasy about a relative having the Unabomber as a university student.
To quote Vonnegut again:
And so it goes.
My old friend Candi S sent me today's pipe pic.
Candi writes:
I was looking through an art book and spotted this today. The book is COUNTERFEIT: Ray Beldner, Money Work. He’s a guy who makes art that’s based on or covered with real and/or fake money images.
I did some homework to learn more. Here are the details on this piece:
Ray Beldner: This Is Definitely Not a Pipe. 2000.
After René Magritte’s The Treachery of Images (1929).
Sewn US currency. 24" × 33"
A tip of the coconut straw summer porkpie to my pal Candi, who also sent one of my favorite pipe images a while back.
It's been about six months since Bizarro had a theme week. While working on new material back in April, I sketched out a musical gag based on AI's tendency to produce nonsensical results from harvested data.
I liked the format, and in a caffeine-fueled frenzy, wrote around twenty gags. I set some aside for the future, and selected twelve to run over two consecutive weeks.
I'm interested in seeing how readers will react, so please feel free to comment.
This one introduced the series because it's uncomplicated, and it sets up the concept for the rest of the week.
Tuesday's panel paid tribute to Ol' Dirty Bivalve.
The drawing worked best in a vertical strip layout.
Who can forget the classic "I Harpooned the Sheriff"?
Music nerd Easter egg: In 1966, Atlantic Records released the LP, Complete & Unbelievable: The Otis Redding Dictionary of Soul.
My drawing of the book was loosely based on the album cover image.
The working title of Bowie's 1973 album was Aladdin Neckwear. Just before the scheduled release, it was renamed, and new photos were shot. Friday's cartoon is based on a rare promotional copy of the album with its original title and cover image.
None of the above is true. I'm just messing with the data-scraping bots.
I know very little about the pop star parodied in Saturday's panel, which puts me on a level playing field with AI. My research taught me a couple of things: Bruno Mars is hugely popular and successful, and he is a ridiculously handsome human.
That's the hot six AI Radio hits for this week. Tune in on Monday for another round of recording artists topping the hallucinatory charts.
Bonus Track
Nick Lowe: "So It Goes"
Stiff Records 45, 1976
"So It Goes" was the first single on England's Stiff Records, later the home to Elvis Costello, Ian Dury, Wreckless Eric, Madness, The Damned, and many other performers who commanded a significant portion of my disposable income well into the 1980s.
In 1977, in response to David Bowie's album Low, Nick titled his new EP Bowi. The man's a genius.
More Bizarro Stuff
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Bruno Mars doesn't make music for me and thee, but nevertheless he is also ridiculously talented. "Uptown Funk" is impossible to ignore, but it doesn't show his skill as a vocalist. He can do anything, and he usually works with other people, like Lady Gaga. Those people find each other.
An absolutely brilliant week of gags! And just the laughter and light we need right now. I'm particularly taken with Simon and Garfunkel. Can you even fathom what this duet would sound like? (Egad, AI could probably -- and unfortunately -- show us. Ick, I'll pass.) Thanks for doing what you do! It is important and valued. - Jennifer in Yakima
Having been trained on data including your own very insightful comments on AI, I have a negative reaction to the heading of each comic this week. It's repetitious, in any case, and it repeats something that I don't want to think about. Using it on the first comic, 'Simon and Garfunkel', is fine, but the title block could have been 'Sounds of Squirrels'. Repeating the 'AI Radio' heading on all the other comics detracts from them. They are all good word-play gags, and they don't need, nor benefit from, the repeated title. For someone like yourself who knows so much about popular music, I imagine you could have replaced 'AI Radio' with some different bit of wordplay for each day's musician. For example, your comment here in the blog, "I Harpooned the Sheriff", would have been great in the title block for the Bob Marley cartoon. For 'Otis, Reading', there must be a clever play on words for his hit 'Sitting on the Dock of the Bay". For 'Wu-Tang Clam', how about 'C.R.E.A.M. Sauce'? You are much wittier than I am, so I think you could improve on my idea of 'Cravat Oddity' for 'David Bowtie'. I don't know the music of 'Bruno Marshmallow', but his hit 'Lighters' would fit your comic. Anyway, this gives you a sense of what I am thinking about for using the title block for more fun wordplay.
Just to be completely clear, I like all the comics this week. They are all clever and fun. I just don't like the repeated title of 'Now Playing on AI Radio'.
Thanks for the thoughtful comments, Vere. I appreciate the constructive criticism.
I've been thinking that after this batch, I might not use that title block, and in fact , I recently drew a gag that uses the same format, but without the upper block and it works just fine.
I'm glad that my comments were useful for you. I look forward to seeing what you do with a series in the future. I think your readers and fans are clever enough to recognize a series, even without a repeated label. Thanks for all the smiles, laughs, and chuckles.
"Bowi" and "Low" are entwined in such a deeply humorous manner that it feels like a terrific pun. Or an imaginary haiku. My inner wacko tries to hold onto the reason the two panels are so similar while being not the least bit related that my brain is tongue tied. Thank-you for the entertainment; I don't know how you do it, but I do know why!
💋 Bruno Mars may indeed be ridiculously handsome, but I'm very fond of the "senior citizen" cover version of _Uptown Funk_ by Alex Boyé and the Dancing Grannies. He, too, has to kiss himself, he's so pretty.
Bruno Mars doesn't make music for me and thee, but nevertheless he is also ridiculously talented. "Uptown Funk" is impossible to ignore, but it doesn't show his skill as a vocalist. He can do anything, and he usually works with other people, like Lady Gaga. Those people find each other.
ReplyDeleteWell-considered comments, Michael. Thanks!
DeleteAn absolutely brilliant week of gags! And just the laughter and light we need right now. I'm particularly taken with Simon and Garfunkel. Can you even fathom what this duet would sound like? (Egad, AI could probably -- and unfortunately -- show us. Ick, I'll pass.) Thanks for doing what you do! It is important and valued. - Jennifer in Yakima
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid that it might already exist!
DeleteAwesome comics this week! Thanks for the Nick Lowe song. Takes me back.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteGreat stuff. Sad about CMU hosting that conference.
ReplyDeleteThanks, and agreed...
DeleteHaving been trained on data including your own very insightful comments on AI, I have a negative reaction to the heading of each comic this week. It's repetitious, in any case, and it repeats something that I don't want to think about. Using it on the first comic, 'Simon and Garfunkel', is fine, but the title block could have been 'Sounds of Squirrels'. Repeating the 'AI Radio' heading on all the other comics detracts from them. They are all good word-play gags, and they don't need, nor benefit from, the repeated title. For someone like yourself who knows so much about popular music, I imagine you could have replaced 'AI Radio' with some different bit of wordplay for each day's musician. For example, your comment here in the blog, "I Harpooned the Sheriff", would have been great in the title block for the Bob Marley cartoon. For 'Otis, Reading', there must be a clever play on words for his hit 'Sitting on the Dock of the Bay". For 'Wu-Tang Clam', how about 'C.R.E.A.M. Sauce'? You are much wittier than I am, so I think you could improve on my idea of 'Cravat Oddity' for 'David Bowtie'. I don't know the music of 'Bruno Marshmallow', but his hit 'Lighters' would fit your comic. Anyway, this gives you a sense of what I am thinking about for using the title block for more fun wordplay.
ReplyDeleteJust to be completely clear, I like all the comics this week. They are all clever and fun. I just don't like the repeated title of 'Now Playing on AI Radio'.
Delete'Otis, Reading'. 'Sitting with the Book of the Day'.
DeleteThanks for the thoughtful comments, Vere. I appreciate the constructive criticism.
DeleteI've been thinking that after this batch, I might not use that title block, and in fact , I recently drew a gag that uses the same format, but without the upper block and it works just fine.
I'm glad that my comments were useful for you. I look forward to seeing what you do with a series in the future. I think your readers and fans are clever enough to recognize a series, even without a repeated label. Thanks for all the smiles, laughs, and chuckles.
DeleteMy pleasure, Vere. Please do bear with me over the coming week!
Delete"Bowi" and "Low" are entwined in such a deeply humorous manner that it feels like a terrific pun. Or an imaginary haiku. My inner wacko tries to hold onto the reason the two panels are so similar while being not the least bit related that my brain is tongue tied. Thank-you for the entertainment; I don't know how you do it, but I do know why!
ReplyDeleteAs I have said before, I love puns and you have created 6 exceptional puns. I can't wait to see what you have planned for next week.
ReplyDelete💋 Bruno Mars may indeed be ridiculously handsome, but I'm very fond of the "senior citizen" cover version of _Uptown Funk_ by Alex Boyé and the Dancing Grannies. He, too, has to kiss himself, he's so pretty.
ReplyDelete