and speaking of rats ...

i got a wild hair one night a few weeks ago--undoubtedly some idiocy connected with the upcoming presidential elections kicked it off--and sent an email to cartoonist mk brown. ms brown has been in plenty of media over the years, but i was introduced to her work in national lampoon. back when it was still good. or maybe it wasn't good because there was plenty in there that i didn't understand. but i loved that magazine.

i particularly loved one comic called 'whistle stop.' it was in the miracle of democracy issue. when nixon and mcgovern were battling for the title. the cartoon showed an unnamed candidate doing an old-fashioned cross country speaking tour via rail. the train would stop at a town, the candidate would speak and press the flesh, and then they'd be off to the next engagement. in this particular comic, the candidate was literally a blithering idiot, complete with a couple of handlers who would dress him, feed him his lines, and essentially make sure he didn't hurt himself. in the pivotal (to me) panel, one of the handlers exclaims, OH MY GOD! THE CANDIDATE IS EATING A RAT! the drawing shows the candidate in suit and tie with the tail of a rat hanging from his mouth.

that comic has always embodied how i feel about politicians and elections. i haven't seen it in ... oh, lord! ... 36 years. but it's stuck with me all this time. i've searched for it on & off, but i've never laid hands on that issue again.

so i wrote to mk brown and told her how influential that comic has been, and how much i enjoy her work in general. she wrote back! twice! and she said that she's received enough inquiries about whistle stop that she's going to do a limited edition print, and if i were interested, she'd let me know when they're done. well. i'm thrilled. truly. so maybe when she finishes the prints, i'll be done with my renovations. then i can hang my print in my new space.

that'll be killer.

mk brown is now on you tube, too.