Weekly Dose of Mark

Sunday, November 23rd 2025

I wanted to give a shout-out to my convention friends, John Bauman and Kevin. Those two always look after me at conventions and will spell me if I need to do a bio break. More than once, they have escorted me to the front of the lines with their VIP passes so that I could collect an autograph without being away from my table for too long. Thanks, guys!

Corey Macourek brought several of his Weird Elephant movie poster prints to Freelance Fandango the Monday before last so that I might take them home and restock the traveling binder box. I also bought the previous poster he created for Friday Night Frights, as I was not able to attend that evening. When Nori joined us at Fandango, we rehashed our Inktober drawings with him. Corey also showed us pictures of a recent Home Depot purchase: a life-size R2-D2. While this model is not radio-controlled, the stand on which it sits does pivot, as does the top. It also produces a variety of lights and sounds. Apparently, these droid replicas are in high demand, and Home Depot sells out of them as soon as they come in. After missing out on the last batch, Corey downloaded the Home Depot App so he would be notified when the next batch arrived. The three of us discussed our many plans for the upcoming weekend. Corey says he will visit Nori and me at our respective locations when we table at Arts at the Armory this weekend. Nori is worried that attendance will be down because of the rain. Grit City is happening at the convention center on Saturday. I expect some of that crowd to attend Art at the Armory on Sunday.

Art at the Armory was a huge success. Attendance was up from the year before, and I did well that year, too. In all, it was my second most profitable event of the year. Ninety-five percent of the crowd that comes to Arts at the Armory does not attend any of the other shows I table at during the year. Saturday certainly was that way as the Grit City Comic Show was being held at the Tacoma Convention Center, only a couple of miles away. And while I’ve done Grit City in the past, it is a one-day show, whereas Arts at the Armory is a two-day show. Also, there is no table fee to get into it. Arts at the Armory is a juried show. With only a hundred spaces available to three hundred applicants, it’s an honor to be selected. Only artists residing in Tacoma can participate. I got to see some old friends at this year’s show

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Claire Parfitt, whom I haven’t seen in decades, showed up. She was a member of the SPGA/Seattle Chapter of the Graphic Artists Guild. It was a blast to see her, and I would have loved to talk more, but a constant stream of people checking out my wares pulled me away. Usually, Saturday is a more profitable day than Sunday at any show, but that wasn’t the case this time. A fan of Killer Klowns from Outer Space made a bulk purchase, which made Sunday the more profitable day. This show was also more cash-heavy than other shows. I was asked to break a hundred three times. I was only able to do so twice, as the second request came nearly on the heels of the first request. I made a mistake on Saturday by not packing my most recent poster and forgetting my QR code sheet for taking Venmo and PayPal payments. Both were in place on Sunday. I saw a lot of people using their phones instead of credit cards to make transactions.

Saturday was my sixty-third birthday. I was surprised by how many people knew about it and made a point of wishing me well at the Armory. Krista made sure I had a German Chocolate cake. We saved my birthday dinner for the following weekend when she took me to Sushi Tama. She ordered the Tempura, and I ordered a plate of Nigiri. We stopped on the way home and picked up a pumpkin tart from Metropolitan Market for dessert. The birthday cake only lasted us four days. We do love our desserts. My brother Stan painted a portrait of me for my birthday. It looks great, and I’m going to hang it in my office

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Monday, I was busy with Freelance Fandango in the morning. Nori and Haley joined me at the Red Elm Café. Nori and I compared notes on how well Art at the Armory went for us. Haley has gone through a lot since we last saw her. Her dog died, she moved, and she was a bit overextended, as she had a store location in Seattle and was working there as well. She also got a fantastic haircut. She laid out her new course of action for consolidating to working in Tacoma. Working in three locations stretched her too thin. She’s also considering further changing her hairstyle, with a near-shave on the sides of her head. I bet it would look super cute. Monday evening was the Pythians’ Thanksgiving dinner. I complimented the chief on the turkey, which was some of the best I’ve ever eaten. She’d brined it in vegetable broth. Another Mark showed up late, and I was happy to give him half of the salad that one of the sisters in the group had me pack up so she wouldn’t have to take it home. Others opened their Tupperware to make sure his plate got filled. I think there were about twenty of us at the gathering.

Friday night was hectic. First, I attended the Tripod Slideshow at 7 o’clock. The theme was Leaders in the Arts, with speakers Kato Lujan Camacho from the Tacoma Art Museum and Syed Jamal, who created The Festival of Lights. He has Bollywood connections and used those to help make the event. He’s currently developing a film to promote Tacoma as a film industry destination. And Arron from Toolbox Laboratories in Tacoma. His family puts together free workshops that help people get used to tools and creative construction. My second stop was the Grand Cinema, where I dropped off the movie binder to James Stowe and his son, Barrett. Stowe created five posters for Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The staff gave me a bag of popcorn to take with me. Halfway to the car, a homeless man was sleeping on the sidewalk. I gave him the popcorn. My third stop for the evening was the Blue Mouse Theater, where Michael Croteau was selling his movie poster for “Blood Rage.” Anthony chose to screen “Blood Rage” because it had a Thanksgiving theme. This was Michael’s first time selling movie posters, so I lent him a hand until Travis showed up. A lot of familiar faces were there, even though “Blood Rage” is far from being well-known. Still, it was a lot of silly fun. I’ve not seen it before. I was howling with the rest of the audience over the not-to-be-taken seriously mahem. Krista was still up when I got home at 12:30.

Alley News

All of my neighbors are concerned about a fellow neighbor who fell and broke a leg and ribs. They are in the hospital and mending, but the next few weeks are going to be rough. I’m hoping we will be allowed to visit soon.

The only work I did in the backyard was to take down the withered tomato plants. They went into the city compost can for pickup. The soil went into the composter and one of the raised beds.

I’ve had some dreams:

Nov 7 #IDreamt that I was at a police station writing a novel. I’d just completed a quotation which I attributed to “The New Necronomicon.” I mused that such fiction would launch conspiracy theories.

Nov 8 #IDreamt my late cat woke from a nap, disgruntled that a bird laid four eggs on her forehead while she’d napped in the sun. She thought there were three. I hid that one hatched and was a chick.

Nov 9 #IDreamt I was conscripted into the Galactic Navy when Earth was absorbed by the Clem Empire. Luckily, getting my boots magnetized took priority over chemically mesmerizing.

Nov 10 #IDreamt I was a fighter pilot, along with thousands of others who flew in these huge formations, but none of us had weapons because none of us had planes. We were fodder for missing artillery.

Nov 11 #IDreamt the windmill liked it when flowers grew in its mechanism. But a portal would open. And even though the other place was nice, bad thing would happen if it stayed open.

Nov 12 #idreamt Mark Brill, myself, and two other artists were in protective custody after the same electrical boobytraps were discovered in our driveways. We spent most of our time drawing.

Nov 13 #IDreamt I was resurrected because the newly dead could track demons. In order to remain alive, I had to eat blackberries every few hours. I had no recollections of an afterlife.

Nov 14 #IDreamt my Great Dane Yorick was running amok in the yard, knocking over pots, and not responding to commands. That’s what happens when you’re unsupervised in the afterlife.

Nov 15 #idreamt two cartoon characters were discussing how an obvious plot point had them revert to their original color scheme after four episodes of the new season, guessing it was for budget.

Nov 16 #idreamt Jacob Monlux and Bill Monlux, we’re leading a work crew over a mountain trail. They broke into song, and the work crew followed along. It looked like an old movie.

Nov 17 #idream I was eating breakfast at a hotel when my old boss came in and pulled me away to do some manual work. He said he’d buy me breafast on our return, and he did.

Nov 18 #IDreamt that there was a world where people who created crossword puzzles became members of the Illuminati.

Nov 19 #idreamt I got a job at Fred Meyer just in time to burn it down. A secret lab on the hidden third floor was losing containment of a genetically engineered parasite that would infest everything,

Nov 20 #IDreamt I was living in an apartment that was a combination of our current house, our old apartment, her old apartment, and that seedy motel in the bad end of town you see in movies.

Nov 21 #idreamt it was accidentally discovered that a couple of my drawings could break the subliminal mind control by which aliens had enslaved the Earth. It started on skateboards.

Nov 24 #idreamt I encountered Pat Hackett while on a trip in France during Fashion Week. She found me a job at a company, and I went on an interview/tour that was treasure map themed.

Another Anime we finished watching:

The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity (2015) 12 Episodes

This is a high school romance anime between a boy at a boy school and a girl at an all-girls school. The story uses a few tropes and is fairly predictable, but it is charmingly heartwarming. It will likely win the top spot of romance anime for 2025. It was a stand-alone one-season series.

I enjoyed several movies since the last Weekly Dose:

87. Nov 10th, Pig (2021) Rating:7

I was expecting this film about a man seeking to recover his pig to be extremely violent. And while there was violence in the movie, the violence was not used as I expected. The story is a profoundly moving one that presents grief as beyond a wound, beyond loss, and that is the frightening and most humane aspect of it. Nicolas Cage’s performance is as solid as an anvil. I watched this movie on Netflix.

88. Nov 12th, Blue Velvet (1986) Rating: 7

It’s been nearly forty years since I last watched Blue Velvet. Long enough that my memory-edited recall of key moments has now been memorialized as short YouTube clips, so a viewing was to confirm I’m remembering the original viewing and not just enough snippets to fool myself I’d watched the entire movie. Some of the scenes still hit hard and shocking, just not as vividly as they did the first time. Other scenes I enjoyed with older, trained eyes, and admired the structure and craftsmanship involved. What’s great about this Noir film is that there’s no exposition to the quagmire of the characters’ motivations. You can only access what becomes exposed. I want to give this movie an extra point for having a dog with a name in it. But the only place Sparky’s name is mentioned is in the credits. I watched this movie on Kanopy.

89. Nov 14. Another Man’s Poison (1951) Rating: 6

I don’t recall seeing this film before. I’ve not seen this movie until now. There’s something about British Noir that’s not as gritty as American Noir. This film was inspired by a popular play, and you can see how it could work with one set, and was adapted to work better on film. I’m going to see if Betty Davis acted in the play before she did the film, or if any of the cast did so. I watched this movie on Kanopy.

90. Nov 16 Lured (1947) Rating: 7

This is an American Noir set in Britain, with a feel almost like British Noir—part of the reason is the comedic elements that keep the grit at bay. Having Boris Karloff ham things up opposite Lucille Ball proves to be a memorable distraction. I give it an extra point for having a dog with a name, even if the dog is acting as a proxy-it still counts. I watched this movie on Kanopy.

91. Nov 18 Till Death (2021) Rating: 5

A twist set up for a revenge movie that is also a survival movie. The camera takes plenty of time examining the actress’s face. I think everyone is surprised by the carefully planned absence of set props. I think this film can be classified as a Noir. I watched this movie on Netflix.

92. Nov 19 Hostiles (2017) Rating: 7

Why did I wait so long to watch this film? Perhaps I thought it would be another western, nothing but shootouts and no substance. And while there is a great deal of violence, it is shown in the context of the age, and portrays scenarios we know took place, even if they didn’t make it into the history books. Men and women being savagely killed for greed, orders, protection, or revenge is part of our past. Using that truth as a film’s characteristic won’t bring out the warm and fuzzies, but it will be more truthful than a melodrama. From a technical aspect, it is a superb use of limited sets.

93. Nov 21. Murder, My Sweet (1944) Rating: 8

Here’s the thing. I can’t recall if I’ve seen this movie before or not. If I did it was well over fifty years ago on television, and could have been edited. I wanted to see this film because it was a turning point in Richard Powell’s career. Up until then, he’d done romantic leading-man roles and also used his singing voice. He correctly chose to change his image into that of a tough guy as he got older, and his face a bit more craggy. He tried to get the lead in “Double Indemnity” but landed this role instead. This film is cited as one of the first Noir films, so the timing was right to get on that as-yet-unnamed train unwittingly. The movie itself is a tight story, the lighting is characteristic of the Noir style, and the music is pretty good. I watched this movie on HBOMax.

94. Nov 21. Blood Rage (1987) Rating: 4

The movie poster I bought at Friday Night Fright had the title “Blood Rage”. The CD source the theater projected had the title “Slasher.” The only reason I saw this movie was that I knew there would be a theater full of die-hard horror fans, and I wanted to support the promoter and the artists who helped him with the poster. The movie itself was built for this audience. The script and gore were crude and all done for tongue-in-cheek squeals. I took away two points for its lack of a memorable soundtrack and body double with a mismatching hair color wig. I gave it a point for having Louise Lasser of “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman” doing another surreal role. I watched this at the Blue Mouse Theater with Travis Bundy and many others.

More next week,

Mark