Weekly Dose of Mark
Sunday, July 19th 2026 • 07/19/26
I didn’t carpool with anyone on Monday because I was scheduled to meet up with John Draper after Freelance Fandango and didn’t want to inconvenience anybody. I arrived at the same time as Larry Lewis, and we found Allen Gladfelter over in the corner drawing away. He was working on a third version of The Return of the Living Dead poster. I ordered a warm cheese bagel with cream cheese. The three of us got out our drawing materials and worked on our various projects while drawing. Allen’s two additional versions of the poster featured a nude figure, a character named Trash, from the movie being clawed at by zombies, just like in the movie. Allen’s logic was that he had to have something on his poster other than Tarman, as he always sells prints with me and I already have a Tar Man themed poster, which he says is better than his poster. I liked his second version and thought it would do really well. He wasn’t completely happy with it and began working on a third.
Larry brought in his portfolio of mini comics and showed them off. I finally got to read his infamous Snakebite Sensei story. It was pretty funny. Larry sold it and 25 other comics over the weekend at an event in Georgetown, over by Fantagraphics, in the south end of Seattle. Allen also went to the event, but he didn’t spend too long hanging out at the various comics’ tables because he wasn’t interested in buying anything and didn’t want to be a booth blocker. Larry didn’t have much of a chance to get away from his table. I stayed home because I wanted desperately to sleep in and then tackle a long list of chores. The chores turned out to be shopping with Krista on Saturday and weeding the backyard like mad on Sunday.
The second Monday of the month is when the Pythians get together for dinner. This time it was a Fried Chicken potluck with everybody declaring what they would bring on the group chat. When I asked what I could bring, paper plates and drinks were suggested. I found the plates in a box that were either from my 50th birthday party or from our Wedding Deception some twenty years before that. Now we’ll have to add them to the shopping list. Besides fried chicken, there were rolls, potato salad, macaroni salad, and chocolate-covered fudge brownies.
Instead of eating upstairs in the dining hall, we gathered in the clubhouse. I didn’t play any pool this time. Instead, I enjoyed taking my turn at the pinball machine that was on loan to the lodge. A couple of the members collect and restore arcade machines. I learned from them the history of this pinball machine. It was originally meant to have the title Top Gun and ride the popularity of the movie when it came out. However, the company couldn’t land the licensing rights to the name and instead called it by the name of the airplane and featured the same on the artwork. It features a double set of paddles and a small maze of elevated ball rails.
We had as visitors the Pythians Grand Chancellor for the State of Washington, Vice Chancellor, and Secretary. So there were a bunch of special secret rites and such to add to the agenda of secret rites and such to go through after we had our fill of summer-themed food.
Wednesday I went with Krista to Seattle where she had some dental work done. There was construction on Interstate 5, so we took a secondary route suggested by the phone’s GPS. Krista doesn’t like using toll roads, but I reminded her the car had a prepaid toll pass that takes care of us driving over the Narrows Bridge. And while the route was different, we didn’t get lost and ended up arriving well before the appointed time. After the appointment, we shopped at Uwajimaya and picked up something for each for a late lunch when we got home. We also picked up Kit Kat, a variety of rice crackers, pickled cucumber, Spice, ramen, dessert, and a special soda made from milk called Skoal, which is unique to southern Japan. And I always get some- if it’s available. The drive home was thick but not terrible, and we were very hungry by the time we unloaded the car. My bento was a bowl of seafood Surachai, which was delicious and I would get again. Krista tried the Fresh Rolls and found them a disappointment. Not the flavor sensation she was hoping for. I can’t help but wonder if the novaccaine wasn’t fully worn off.
Friday and Saturday night, Allen Gladfelter picked me up, and we sold The Return of the Living Dead movie posters at the Grand Cinema. I also brought along some pins and stickers. After doing three versions, Allen decided to go with his original drawing for the final poster. He did an absolutely fantastic job coloring it, and it was really stunning. It turned out that I only had a logo version of my poster, meaning it was filled with half a dozen sponsorship logos along the bottom of the poster. Folks don’t like it as much as the version without logos. As we compared the two posters, we noticed something: Allen’s posters were bigger. They were not 11 x 17 as all the other posters. Allen realized that he always created the art in Photoshop a little oversized and then shrank it down before sending it to the printer. This time he neglected to shrink it down, and so the posters were printed at the same size he delivered them. He likes the look of the larger size, but it’s problematic for placing in the archive and binders. We sold several of Corey Macourek’s posters. On the way to the theater, I teased Allen. “I thought about leaving the stickers behind and only bringing the pins. But, then I also thought, it might be more fun to undercut your sales.” We both had a hearty laugh at that.
Allen told me now that he has twenty posters, he’s thinking he should try to get into Summer Con. He can’t commit to most conventions because he teaches during the year, but that’s one show he could do. I told him I’d let him know when the application for next summer opens later this year.
I had some dreams this week:
July 11. #dreamt I showed my friend Travis how a Teserak would safely yield a small dessert if you held it so the hot wax inside didn’t spill out. The setting was aboard a cruise ship with some late-arriving grandmas.
July 13. #idreamt Daniel Abraham appeared outside my office window, in a suit naturally, after dark on a summer evening with his briefcase in hand. He’d come to celebrate my birthday.
July 14. #idreamt a genetic experiment gone awry caused symbiotic relationships to form between humans and creatures. From River Otters to Praying Mantis, tribes were forming.
July 15. #IDreamt I was participating in a pop-up no-tent outdoor art show where participants could only bring one bin, no backdrops. I was already selling before I had all my merch on the table.
July 16. #IDreamt powdered wigs came back into fashion. Even the occasional tricornered hat. This time frequent microwaving caused more wear and tear.
July 17. #idreamt I’d met aliens who took on humorous cartoon shapes so that my mind could accept them. I thought that a bit overkill, but I couldn’t hold a memory of them otherwise.
July 18. #idreamt Lynn DiNino asked me to paint a replica of a painting, which I did using an old canvas and paints I bought at the dump. Experts declared it authentic, and it was auctioned for millions while we protested and got rich.
Movies I’ve watched this week:
87. July 13. Flamingo Road (1949) Rating: 7
Another Noir with some twists, turns, and melodrama. It passes the Bechdel test. It has Joan Crawford and a variety of character actors. I watched this gem on HBO Max, where it was flagged as leaving soon.
88. July 14. Keeper of the Flame (1942) Rating: 6
I enjoy watching Katheryn Hepburn and Spencer Tracy act together. The plot of this movie is a bit transparent. I saw through it when I was a kid watching this on television, and it remains that way now. What I did enjoy about it then, I still enjoy now: the sets, props, matte paintings, and crash models.
89. July 16. The Long Walk (2025) Rating: 7
I picked The Long Walk off a paperback spin display outside the entrance of a Quick-E-Mart back in the summer of ‘79. It was a tough choice between it and another book put out by the same author, a guy named Richard Bachman. I only wish I still had that paperback, but I chewed them up back then and loaned them freely. It was long gone by the time King was revealed as Bachman. I was eager to see this movie adaptation and watched it on Amazon Prime. It was pretty faithful to the book, and I was pleased by that.
90. July 17; Hondo (1953) Rating: 7
There are a couple of scenes that give this film away as being filmed for 3D, but most of the time, the 3D was used to show the grandeur of the West. 3D aside, this Western, which I watched on Amazon Prime, features John Wayne, a dog with a name, and a red, white, and blue bandana so distracting I’m taking a point off just for it. But both the Duke and the dog each get a point. Louis L’Amour’s film takes on presenting the Apaches is a little confusing because of the attention to being authentic and the Hollywood system of good enough for a cowboy film.
Burying the Ex (2019) Rating: 6
I watched this movie a couple of years ago and failed to enter it into my watch diary. It’s an odd comedy that deals with relationship issues like ghosting, side-stepping, double-talk, jealousy, and emotional cowardice.
More next week,
Mark