How many times have we heard that one? How many times have we used it? When a friend dove headlong into some wildly desperate attempt to gain his 15 minutes of fame (damn you Andy Warhol), performing a stunt that a monkey would have the sense to avoid, we’d toss them a flippant farewell in the form of “well, it’s your funeral”. When we’d attempt what others thought foolish or impossible, like asking Mary Jo Huge-Boobies to the high school dance, our friends bon-voyage would consist of those 5 fateful syllables. And it usually proved prophetic.

Recently however, this phrase of imminent doom took on an entirely different meaning for me. A more literal and wonderfully sensible interpretation.

My uncle died on Veteran’s day. His service was held a few days after. He was a strong willed and beloved part of our family. Coming from the south, I’m used to the typical Christian service. I’m not deriding anyones faith or traditions. Far from it. This affair taught me that it really IS your funeral.

What I witnessed at my Uncles obit was, for me, a meaningful and heartfelt farewell. A unique requiem that was spoken by six people who really knew the Man. It was a memorial service that was indeed memorable. I hope that my own service will mimic it, although not anytime soon.

The event could be described from a religious standpoint, as agnostic, and at the extreme, atheistic. This proved to be a point of contention with some audience members, but, and I say this with all respect, it wasn’t their funeral. Too many times have I sat quietly as a loved one was you-googlied by some knucklehead who knew NOTHING about the deceased. It seemed contrived and downright weird. But I won’t digress here. Uncle’s service was organized by his son, who also directed the affair. He asked six people to speak their peace during the service. Each participant waxed nostalgic. None were professional speakers, but all were eloquent and moving.

After Unc’s service, many went to dinner at a fine restaurant next door. People laughed, and caught up on news that was too long in the telling. We saw people we’d not seen in up to 20 years. It was a joyful, and happy event in many ways. Lots of good memories were recounted. The tears shed were those of joy for the man who was. I laughed a lot that night. Not something I’m used to doing at funerals.

If you’re looking for my point, here it is. Plan ahead. Find out what kind of service you’d like to leave everyone with. Let somebody know what you want. It’ll be up to others to see it gets done. But don’t leave it to some fella at Berrys and Burns Funeral Home to find a speaker. Ask folks now. Preferably someone who likes you. If not, at least someone who can tolerate you. And then INSIST that attendees get together somewhere and have a good laugh or cry to your memory. You’re most definitely worth it. So if you’ll excuse the anti-pun, LIVE IT UP! It’s your funeral.

Thanks to Dave and Thomas. Calling themselves “. . .Knoxville, Tennessee’s most unusual blogging duo”, these two nere-do-wells have been linking up with us at the Saturday Bulletin and sending traffic our way.  I’d like to show appreciation and reciproka. . . resiproh. . . reecepre. . . return the favor. There’s some freggin funny stuff here and plenty of content keep you busy for longer than your employer will allow. Their daily timekillers (some of which are NOT suitable for work they say) give us a look at “the odd news and pop culture that makes our world so great!” I tip my fedora to you fellas. Keep up the grand and glorious work.

In just a few days we’ll enjoy the hoots and hollers, the thrills and delights, and the all out freggin fun fest that is Halloween! What a great day. From childhood until present day, I never missed out on the All Hallows Eve. Gettin candy as a kid, goin to haunts as a younger fella, and givin out the candy as a-dolt. Man I got some great memories, and I’m sure you do too. Lot’s of laughs from the many nooks and crannies of my memory.

I remember trying once to barter what amounted to a bucket full of candy corn for a single snickers bar. No deal in case you’re wondering. But I hadda try. Never could stand the CC. It acted as ballast  to help even out the weight of my bag of booty. NO, not THAT booty! I’m talkin’ boodle, gain, goods, halla-swag, spoils. Bags (paper please, no plastic) of tooth-rotting, sugar-jammed, hypertensive, confounded confections.

I also recall a trip to a haunted attraction as a boy. One of those pitch black, motion activated, scare a child into a “mud-butt”, zig-zagging maze, hell-holes. Still in single-digits and running the horror gauntlet on my own, I rounded a dark corner and stepped on one of the activation buttons. FLASHING LIGHTS! A LARGE WEREWOLF! RRRRAAAUUUUWWWWGGH! I was off like a shot! Screaming the whole way. Did I mention it was pitch black maze? Did I also mention there were microphones posted inside and loud speakers outside. The only thing missing to my visit to the tramusment park was some sort of smell-o-vision to highlight the mixed smell of spittle and urine that followed me at the speed of sound thru the. . . pitch. . .black . . .labryrinth.

Wanna know what is sounded like? Well, something like this. Keep the doppler effect in mind for extra giggles.

1. Werewolf howl.
2. High pitched scream.
3. Mach 1 patter of Pro-Keds.
4. Screaming.
5. Mach 2 sound of feet leaving Pro-Keds behind.
6. More screaming, higher, louder.
7. Sound of liquid hitting concrete floor.
8. Moist farting.
9. Long, protracted, shriek approaching, and passing aforementioned microphone.
10. LOUD dully cracking “THUNK”, coinciding with the abrupt end of panicked wailing.
11. Sound of small body collapsing to hard cold unyielding floor.
12. Crack of melon.
13. More moist farting.
14. Sirens.

While I look back and laugh now, it’s probably nothing like the laughter of those listening when it all happened. But now, I laugh. And thankfully, so does my therapist.

A while back, a friend had a dog who misbehaved. His response was to get Blue “fixed”. I thought proper training might be the answer, but twernt my dog. Anyways, this was a result of my ponderings. Sung to the tune of Inner Circle’s “Bad Boys”. At least the little bit that’s used on “Cops”.

Bad Dog, bad dog!
Whatcha gonna do?
Whatcha gonna do when his name is Blue?

Bad Dog, bad dog!
Whatcha gonna do?
Whatcha gonna do when he pees on youuuuuuuuuuuuuu?

It’s time for a long overdue “Thanks” to the cats at Halfpixel.com. For those of you who don’t know, HalfPixel is a group of four outstanding and successful Webcomics fellas. Their recently published book “How to Make Web Comics” has been an invaluable resource to us here at the Saturday Bulletin. The book, which we highly recommend to any aspiring Webcomic, is the brainchild, or is it brainchildren, (somebody wiki this for me) of Dave Kellett (Sheldon), Brad Guigar (Evil Inc.), Kris Straub (Starslip Crisis), and Scott Kurtz (PvP). You can order it thru Amazon, Borders etc, but if you want a signed Artist edition, contact one of the aforementioned Webcomic meisters. This work is stuffed, packed, jammed (or jellied if you prefer), and littered with first rate information. Moreover, this isn’t just speculation, but hard won experience donated freely (well, ya gotta pay for the book, but it’s worth far more than the asking price) from four successful professionals in the industry. It hardly gets any better than that.

AND, the lads ALSO produce a podcast. They started this last year around August. I only recently discovered this treasure trove and have been playing catch up. Topics of discussion range from Webcomic how-to’s, to Print vs, Web, to appearances at Comic Conventions. There are a myriad more topics. They will also answer particular questions that are either written or phoned in. I can only speculate on the number of queries that they get. (Stop snickering, it’s an actual word). IMAGINE MY SURPRISE then, when I was listening to the back log of Webcomics Weekly podcasts and I heard my name and the Saturday Bulletin mentioned. I’d forgotten that I’d even written in a question. I was sitting at work listening to Webcomics Weekly #48 - Sicky Magoo, and was about to change to some Leon Redbone when at 43:40 (30 minutes left) I heard them announce a question from “Jerry Tracy” at the Saturdaybulletin.com! Let the hooting begin! It may not sound like much to some, but to me it was more fun than a hatful of ferrets! With the amount of questions that they get, to single mine out was like winning a webcomic lottery. Hot DAMN! They answered my question (on monetizing a site with advertising) at great length. I really appreciated that.  I’d also like to mention that when that podcast aired, there was a grand spike in visits to the Saturday Bulletin. OUTSTANDING! So to Messrs. Kellett, Guigar, Straub and Kurtz, I say MANY MANY THANKS and extend to you a Laurel and Hardy handshake. You guys are to be thanked, appreciated, and lauded. Well, maybe not lauded. Too ecclesiastical. But from us here as The Saturday Bulletin, we’re grateful for all you’ve offered and done. CHEERS LADS!

Laughter is indeed a funny thing. There are times during every day, that I may see something, remember an event, or even think of a situation that will make me laugh out loud. It’s impossible to predict when this will happen. And for the most part, I don’t repress the laugh. Oh there are times when I have to stifle, and we can all think of a situation when that’s necessary. But let’s save that for another time shall we.

I believe that this happens to us all, this spontaneous laughter effect. And we should let the laugh out whenever possible. It’s just dang good for the soul. Which of us hasn’t had a good belly laugh with our mates? Or howled at a movie or sitcom that collided into our funny bones.

Sure humor is subjective, but a laugh is a laugh the world round. I once had a good chuckle with a chap from India. This stemmed from the fact that both his english and my hindi were non-existant. Can’t even remember what is was about, because we couldn’t communicate. The only thing we both understood was that we were enjoying the absurdity of the situation. So you see, it’s not the trigger, but the laughter itself that does the good.

Laughter. Unspoiled, spontaneous, full-out, howl till your sides hurt, infectious, good natured, hell great-natured, gasping, gufawing, tittering, tee-heeing, chuckling, chortling, knee-slapping, poop your pants, LAUGHTER! It unites us. It lights our way in the dark. It has real healing properties. And dagnabit, it’s just freggin fun. It does a body good.

So here’s hoping all of you find something to laugh about every day. It is my wish to  each and everyone. Now. . . I gotta go change my drawers.

It’s hard to believe that it’s been a year since The Saturday Bulletin was launched. It’s been a great ride so far, and with the help of all of our outstanding fans, we’ll be able to continue on for quite a while. Being able to publish these webcomics has been a dream come true. With the genius and encouragement of Chris, I was able to post comics for everyone to enjoy. Little did I know how many great people were out there in the webcomics world. Support and comments have been wildy funny and gracious.

It’s been a rollercoaster of sorts. From the idea of the site to it’s hard launch to this latest redesign, everything has been a great learning experience for me. When the Saturday Bulletin launched, I said, “If we get 50 people a day, that’d be freggin AWESOME”! I remember that, because I work hard to avoid using the word “awesome” unless something is truly awesome. Which, other than a recent sighting of a chupacabra in an elvis costume, is rare. Imagine my surprise when we got over 100 visits, then 30,000 in 3 days, and then 260,000+ over a 4 day period. (That was the post of “Issue #98: The birds the bees and the birds”. I still laugh myself stupid when I read that one.) I actually used the word AWESOME! Nothing has equaled that weekend, yet, but our numbers and have continued to grow at a steady clip. Now we’re in the process of monetizing the site. Project Wonderful ads, and more paraphernalia soon.

The only thing I can say is “THANK YOU, THANK YOU, AND AGAIN THANK YOU”, to everyone who’s visited, commented, complimented, linked, blogged, and just dropped by for a good laugh. You guys are the best. This webcomic has been more fun than a hatful of ferrets! I’m overjoyed with the fact that so many of you enjoy the Saturday Bulletin. I’ll continue to do my very best to keep the quality of the strips at their highest. I’ll be posting new blogs as well. I’ll do my best to keep you laughing and entertained. I’m a firm believer in laughter and it’s miraculous qualities. It kept me from being attacked by the aforementioned chupacabra in the elvis costume, but that’s another story.

Thanks to all and everyone! CHEERS!

Jerry

The redesign is a thing of beauty! Chris worked tirelessly to make this transistion. Come to think of it, he worked tired as well. With the amount of time put in, unless he just didn’t sleep, I’m convinced that he worked IN his sleep. And what a difference it has made! His original site design was elegant, functional, and dang cool to look at. And now, he’s outdone himself. I say again “ALL HAIL CHRIS”! His design talent is complimented by his web genius. He updated me on the process steps at a time. As always, I bowed to his primacy in these matters. Smartest thing I could’ve done.  The redesign is FAN-FREGGIN-TASTIC!

Jerry

What a process …

The initial transition to ComicPress was a rough one. I made quite a few mistakes (this is Chris, by the way, not J.J.), and I couldn’t sleep until the site got straightened out. I think the revamp is a nice balance of clean, yet vintage elements, staged nicely around J.J.’s brilliant comic panels. Hopefully you agree.

Anyhow, now that comments are enabled on individual posts and comics, we’re really hoping for some feedback from you guys. Thanks so much for reading and laughing and sticking around!

There are still some issues to be resolved, but we’re working through them. You’ll notice some changes to the way old posts are handled, but all that should get worked out behind the scenes here. If you any of you guys find problems or bugs, please email satbul1 (at) gmail with anything you find.

Enjoy!

Just a note to let you all know that the site is getting an overhaul, and it’s definitely still a work-in-progress. We’re looking a little awkward at the moment, but you know how it is growing up - things start changing and suddenly you have hair where you didn’t before … it’s weird for everyone.

So please pardon the mess. Things will be purring right along very soon.

Also, please pardon the mixed metaphor.