Updated weakly.

John P. has a PATREON. / King-Cat 82 is OUT.



Tuesday, July 27, 2010

WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE

So I made it down to ol' Hogtown -- Gainesville, Florida -- my new home for the foreseeable future.  I live out in the woods with three funny dogs, some lizards, palmetto bugs, ferns, banana spiders, tiny green frogs, and at least two deer.  I'm hammering away at the new King-Cat (#71) which will be out before I leave for tour next month, and staying in the AC!  IT'S HOT.

I am a little bewildered and overwhelmed by all the new flora and fauna surrounding me, but I'm doing my best to get a grip.  Here are a few pictures I took of my new neighborhood.


This is where I live now.



L: Pete, R: Eddie


Ginger Spice: Leader of the Pack.

 
The girls knocked over their skate ramp again.
(L to R: Posh, Baby, and Ginger)


See those delicate little hairs on the caterpillar?  THEY'LL STING THE SHIT OUT OF YOU IF YOU TOUCH THEM.


One day I was walking peacefully down the street, when I ducked under an overhanging tree branch and walked into the stringiest, thickest web I'd ever felt.  I practically bounced back!  And there staring at me face to face was




Yes, it is a four inch spider with a HUMAN SKULL painted on its back!  WHERE THE HELL AM I???  The natives say they're called "Banana Spiders."  That's like calling a Great White Shark an "Ice Cream Fish."

So I became a little obsessed with these so-called Banana Spiders (Nephila clavipes).














Unknown woodland flower.

 
Crepe Myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica)
 

Unknown fern.

 
Lantana camara (?)



No doubt some other ferocious beastie lives here.

 
Millipede.

 





Pete and his Filthy Disgusting Ball™.


The Cee-Ment Pond.

 
Banana trees (Musa sapientum).

 
Unknown Lily (?)


Unknown woodland flower.


The Old Pecan Tree.


Spanish Moss.


My Li'l Buddy.



Linus (Canis lupus familiaris)


Still unknown woodland flower.


Did I mention there were spiders?

 
Don't know.

 
Sort of looks like a Yucca.

 
Nope.


Tamarind tree? (Tamarindus indica)

 
No idea.


Some kind of Aloe/Agave type thing.


(Note tell-tale zig-zag pattern in the webbing.)


(Note gold sheen to threads.)





 


Opuntia spp. ?



And that's why I stay indoors and draw comics all day.

* * *



 

Thursday, July 22, 2010

ALABAMA REST AREA

On my way down to Gainesville I tried to stop (to sleep in the car) in some little town just inside the Tennessee border, but it was so damn hot and humid I could barely breathe.  I figured if I kept driving I could at least have a breeze, so I drove on into the wee hours of the night, stopping at last at a rest area just inside the Alabama border.  I slept fitfully for three hours or so, waking at dawn, and headed back out on the road.  I made it to Birmingham by 7:30 AM.





Couldn't get enough of the space rocket.


Or the trash barrels.







NEXT TIME:  Banana Spiders and other Strange Floridians.