“Footsteps on cobblestone bounce off the walls in Venetian passageways. Aside from the sound of the occasional motorboat, there isn't much else to be heard on the streets of Venice; A much welcomed change of ambiance for someone who does not drive but hails from a world dominated by cars and multi-lane motorways. In Venice, wherever your eyes fall, there is only beauty to be seen.”
From issue 218 of RESTRICTED FREQUENCY, scheduled to go out late this evening.
I fully intended to blog while on the road, but the way days unfolded kept me from even touching my laptop, which I must admit was a most welcomed change.
I may post a few travel pix over the next couple days, but for a few shots of the exhibition at the Palazzo del Fumetto on ganzeer.com. Not the best pix, as I neglected to bring my good camera and shot all these with my phone.
I've had a foot in and out of the cultural scene in many cities around the world, and still no place compares to Cairo in that regard. The energy, enthusiasm, and genuine interest is simply unmatched.
Above photo from a series of talks related to Egyptian and Lebanese film history at Cimatheque in downtown Cairo a few days ago.
I am the grinch.
It is true.
I would appreciate Christmas in America much more if all the money that was spent on lights and gift-giving between family members who certainly have no real need for the gifts being given, if all of that was instead spent on the ever-increasing homeless forced to withstand the elements without shelter and those truly in need.
The national mood in America right now.
Poster available from Garage.Ganzeer.
Fancy pre-framed options also available for the champagne socialists in your life.
When this pops up as you unsubscribe from a service, you can't help but wonder: Well, why didn't y'all just price it that way in the first place?!?!
On a completely different note, I was today years old when I discovered the term “emotional age”. Based on this excellent interview with Jane Pratt on the Oldster substack, I think my emotional age may have capped at 32.
Finally got around to populating the webshop with much work. Discount code BYEBYE24 shaves 24% off all orders until Dec. 6.
It is now confirmed that I'll be off to Italy on December 9th to attend the opening of Oltremari at the Palazzo del Fumetto in Pordenone, which features some of my work alongside that of Deena Mohamed, Tracy Chahwan, Twins Cartoon, and Issam Smiri.
There will also be some kind of joint bookshop event in Venice with Lina Ghaibeh, who has a new book out translated to Italian, IN/OUT.
With Italy's proximity to Egypt, I couldn't not take this opportunity to pay my family a visit. Which means the month of December is now more or less completely obliterated for me, and thus completing work on THE SOLAR GRID before the end of the year will no longer feasible. Which is really frustrating because I'm so damn close.
About halfway through in pencils, with a few pages completely inked, colored, and lettered (the mixed media ones, since the process for those is very different).
This less-than-ideal realization has, I must admit, put me in something of a mood.
Do I know anyone between Venice and Pordenone?
Sending this out into the ether because it looks like I'll be attending a comix-exhibition opening at the Palazzo del Fumetto in Pordenone (featuring work from THE SOLAR GRID) around mid-December and it would be delightful to connect with anyone I know who might be out there.
