Luckiest bastard around

[Joe Rice]

I'm a lucky sumbitch, guys. Lisa really topped herself with her anniversary present this year (http://listencomics.blogspot.com/2005/08/i-love-my-fiancee.html). So many of my artistic heroes ...I got this last night and am still floored by it.

[Typo Lad]

Niiiiice.

Our anniversary was on August 8th. Suzannah got me...

...ummm....

Damn.

She didn't get me anything.

What a gyp!

[Fenris]

Very cool, Joe!

(Though it must have been hard to concentrate on assembling the pieces, with the smell of BBQ distracting you.)

õ
Or so I'd imagine!

[Dan Apodaca]

You have to bring us back tons of Steve Martin anecdotes.

And Chris Ware anecdotes, too!

[west3man]

I dunno who most of those folks are, but it still sounds interesting.

And, of course, it's cool as hell that your lady went to all that trouble. Enjoy.

[Joe Rice]

You have to bring us back tons of Steve Martin anecdotes.

And Chris Ware anecdotes, too!

We're going to form a bluegrass band together. They will be my best friends.

[Typo Lad]

I dunno who most of those folks are, but it still sounds interesting.

We need to edjumacate you.

[Joe Rice]

I dunno who most of those folks are, but it still sounds interesting.


Allow me (and the New Yorker) to educate you!

Tad Friend, a staff writer at The New Yorker, has been contributing pieces since 1987. He writes the magazine’s Letter from California and often reports on the entertainment business. He is the author of “Lost in Mongolia,” a compilation of articles and essays, many of which were first published in The New Yorker.

Brad Bird is a director at Pixar Animation Studios and the writer and director of the Academy Award-winning animated feature “The Incredibles.” He also wrote and directed “The Iron Giant” and served as executive consultant on the TV series “The Simpsons” and “King of the Hill.” He completed his first animated film at the age of fourteen.

Matt Maiellaro is the co-creator, with Dave Willis, of the animated TV series “Aqua Teen Hunger Force,” which is currently being adapted for a feature film. He is the voice of the character Err, a two-dimensional inhabitant of the moon, among other characters. He joined the Cartoon Network in 1993, when he began writing for the animated TV series “Space Ghost Coast to Coast.”

Trey Parker is the co-creator, with Matt Stone, of the animated TV series “South Park” and the live-action sitcom “That’s My Bush!” He has co-written and co-directed, with Mr. Stone, the films “South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut” and “Team America: World Police.” He has also directed two live-action feature films, “Cannibal! The Musical” and “Orgazmo,” in which he starred.

Matt Stone, the co-creator, with Trey Parker, of “South Park,” is the basis for the series’ fictional character Kyle Broflovski. With Mr. Parker, he co-wrote and co-directed the films “South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut” and “Team America: World Police,” and co-created the live-action sitcom “That’s My Bush!” He also produced and acted in Mr. Parker’s two live-action films.

Dave Willis is the co-creator, with Matt Maiellaro, of “Aqua Teen Hunger Force,” which features three anthropomorphic fast-food products. He is the voice of the characters Meatwad, Carl, and Ignignokt. Previously, he was a writer and producer for the animated TV series “Space Ghost Coast to Coast.” He has also worked at a fishery in Alaska and on a towboat on the Mississippi.

Tony Ellis was taught the banjo by his grandmother. As a young player, he performed with Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys and with Mac Wiseman at Carnegie Hall. His recordings include “Dixie Banner,” “Farewell My Home,” “Quaker Girl,” and “Sounds Like Bluegrass to Me”; his new album, “The Quest,” was released in May.

Earl Scruggs began playing banjo at the age of four; at the age of ten, he developed the three-finger picking style that came to define modern bluegrass. He performed with Lester Flatt and the Foggy Mountain Boys for twenty years, before founding the Earl Scruggs Revue with his three sons. In 2002, he won a Grammy for “Foggy Mountain Breakdown,” which featured Steve Martin on second banjo.

Pete Wernick, also known as “Dr. Banjo,” formed the band Country Cooking in the early seventies while working as a sociologist at Cornell University. He currently performs with the bands Live Five, whose most recent album is “Up All Night,” and Hot Rize, and with his wife, Joan, a singer-guitarist.

Charles Wood started studying the banjo at the age of fifteen. A national banjo champion, he currently performs with Curtis Blackwell and the Dixie Bluegrass Boys and the Wild Hog Band. His albums include “Somewhere Over the Banjo” and “Banjo Noel”; his latest release, “Tour de Banjo,” is out in September. He won the RockyGrass banjo contest in July.

Steve Martin has been a contributor to The New Yorker since 1996. He has published two novels and a collection, “Pure Drivel,” which includes many of his humor pieces from the magazine. A self-taught banjo player, he appeared on the 2001 album “Earl Scruggs and Friends.” He has used the instrument in his standup comedy act and in his films.

If you don't know these guys, you should be banned from the comic book internet, but here goes:



Charles Burns contributes covers and illustrations to The New Yorker. He first gained prominence for his work in Art Spiegelman and Françoise Mouly’s Raw magazine in the nineteen-eighties, and has since worked on projects ranging from an Iggy Pop album cover to a recent ad campaign for Altoids. His graphic novel “Black Hole” is forthcoming in October.

Chris Ware’s graphic novel “Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth,” parts of which first appeared in The New Yorker, was included in the 2002 Whitney Biennial. His collection “The ACME Novelty Library” is out this fall, and he is at work on two graphic novels. He began contributing drawings, comic strips, and cover art to the magazine in 1999.

Wow. They went on sale yesterday at noon and all of them are sold out. YAY LISA FOR BEING PROMPT!

[west3man]

Many thanks.

[Justin Davis]

Holy shit, what did she get you?! I tried looking at this on my work computer and it was blocked because it was labeled as "obscene/tasteless". This is only the second time my work computer has censored a website. I think the other time was when I was trying to delete an spam email and accidentally clicked on it instead.

(yes, I know it's probably some really cool comic book collectible, most likely original art)

[Michael P]

Niiiiice.

Our anniversary was on August 8th. Suzannah got me...

...ummm....

Damn.

She didn't get me anything.

What a gyp!
Yeah, but if the story of how you gave her her present is true, then you got some major payback from that, which is just as good.

[Joe Rice]

Holy shit, what did she get you?! I tried looking at this on my work computer and it was blocked because it was labeled as "obscene/tasteless". This is only the second time my work computer has censored a website. I think the other time was when I was trying to delete an spam email and accidentally clicked on it instead.

(yes, I know it's probably some really cool comic book collectible, most likely original art)

You work puter is dumb! It is this:

I just got my anniversary present from her. It's fucking awesome and I'm going to brag a bit right here. Every year The New Yorker does a series of classes, discussions, and such with prominent artists, writers, and thinkers. Lisa bought me tickets to three of the events this year. First, Anarchy and Animation, with Tad Friend, Brad Bird, Matt "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" Maliellaro, Trey Parker, Matt Stone, and Dave Willis. Awesome, right? Well, next comes Tony Ellis, Earl Scruggs, Pete Wernick, and Charles Wood talk with Steve Martin: A Conversation in Music, about the banjo. I love banjo music. AND IT KEEPS GETTING BETTER! Next is the Master Class for the Graphic Novel with Charles Burns and Chris Ware.

Of course, I found out in a weird way. She took the pages that list them and ripped them up, putting the pieces for each in a different envelope. I got to put them together while Korean barbecue filled my nostrils. Dude! In two days I'll get to see Steve Martin and Chris Ware! How awesome is that?

I'm so pumped. It'll be in about a month. She's going with me to the first two. Yay for Lisa! Yay for me! Yay for the New Yorker! Yay for everything!