This is another page in an after-the-fact diary of the eleven-day trip that I recently took with my wonderful friend Amber to Las Vegas, Philadelphia and New York. Before you read about Day 5, you really oughta read about what transpired on Day 1, Day 2, Day 3 and Day 4.
Saturday, May 26, 2018
Amber and I were somehow up early enough to hit the 8 AM NCS Breakfast Buffet which preceded the 9:30 AM NCS Business Meeting. Since I am a member and she is not, she could not attend the Business Meeting. I went and she headed back upstairs to bed or maybe out to get some makeup or accessories for the evening's gala formal dinner.
Would that I could have sent her to the meeting in my place. No insult is meant to the biz proceedings of the National Cartoonists Society but behind closed doors, we do not discuss the denuclearization of North Korea or the secret peace negotiations between Alex Jones and his marbles. We talk about Top Secret, hush-hush classified stuff like where the next NCS convention will be held and about where to get good deals on art supplies.
There were seminars and such all afternoon. I absented myself from some to go out to a CVS Pharmacy. My feet were now pretty much back to normal but I purchased a few items I thought might help keep them that way, given the considerable walking ahead of me on this trip. Then I went over to the Reading Terminal Market, which oughta be paying me out of their advertising budget to mention them on this blog.
I decided that before I made my lunch selection, I would walk up or down every aisle, studying every booth. There are well over a hundred of them, some selling cooked food, some selling raw food and some selling things like books and housewares. It took about forty minutes, every second of which was fascinating, before I decided I would eat…wait for it…
…the same thing I had there the day before: The roast turkey from a stand there called The Original Turkey. Some things I saw looked good but nothing looked better except maybe at one or two stands that had long, long lines. I was just about to go buy a plate o' turkey when my cell rang. It was my friend and editor (yes, those things can go together) Charlie Kochman. He asked where I was. I told him. He said, "I'll be right over and I'm bringing Nick."
Charlie showed up with our mutual pal, Nick Meglin. I showed them both around and talked them both into having the turkey. If I ever take you there, I'll talk you into having the turkey and you'll thank me for it.
The tables where one consumes one's purchases seemed to be full so we took our meals back to the Philadelphia Marriott and took occupation of a deserted ballroom. We ate. Nick told stories about working with Bill Gaines on MAD. They loved the food. It was one of my favorite moments of the whole trip.
The cocktail reception began at 6 PM even for those of us who never drink cocktails. Amber and I spent the hour before getting dressed — me, donning my tuxedo with the tiny holes chewed by moths; her, doing her hair and putting on The Greatest Dress In The World. I have spent our entire relationship telling her she's beautiful without fancy clothing or any makeup whatsoever. I still believe that but maybe a bit less since I saw her all dolled-up and ready to hit the party…
There, we had a good example of what we in the magic world call Misdirection. When we walked into the party, no one noticed the moth holes in my tux. Hell, I probably could have been wearing no pants and no one would have noticed.
We mingled with well-attired cartoonists. One of them was former-cartoonist-turned-CNN-journalist Jake Tapper. Even a couple of cartoonists who don't like how his network covers Donald Trump — they deviously quote him in full and in context — found Mr. Tapper to be a very nice, intelligent man. He was genuinely impressed to be among so many cartoonists and very familiar with the work of many of them. (I wasn't even familiar with the cartooning of everyone on the premises.) He and I had a long conversation, much of it about Walt Kelly and Pogo.
As you may know, I am an editor, along with Eric Reynolds, of Pogo: The Complete Syndicated Comic Strips, a series from Fantagraphics reprinting my favorite of all newspaper strips. It turns out Jake Tapper is also a huge fan of it and a collector of original artwork from the feature. Volume 5 will be out around Halloween with a foreword by Mr. Tapper and we didn't ask him to do it. He asked us if he could…and, well, of course he could. It's a very enthusiastic, well-informed piece.
I thought the awards ceremony was too long…but then, I think every awards ceremony since the Early Middle Ages has been too long. Sergio Aragonés and I presented a couple of them. At the end of the evening, the biggie — the Reuben Award for Cartoonist of the Year — was presented to Glen Keane, who gave a touching and lovely speech. The audience seemed very happy with the choice and with what the winner had to say about it. That's the great thing about awards. Sometimes, they make everyone real happy.