Firstly special thanks to Comic Book Ink owner John Munn for the use of his fine establishment whom all CLAW members have concluded is the ultimate NERD MECCA in Tacoma, WA.  Surrounded by buxom, scantily clad, super heroine statuettes and boxes of minty fresh comic books elite members of the Cartoonists League of Absurd Washingtonians High Council held congress to vote on imperative matters all things cartooned.

1. ART ON THE AVE. – members asked about status of this event. Took roll on who is available to attend. RR Anderson lives within walking distance so he was assigned first shift. Mark Monlux can do afternoon if a table is available for poster sales and zine presentation.  If no table is available members will stage a walk out. We will see.
2. URBAN ART FESTIVAL – STOWE is our point man on this, need to confirm dates, who is available. He’ll follow up on this.
3. CLAW ART SHOW AT TACOMA ART SUPPLY – Warren needs art from us ASAP for opening in AUG 1.  He has offered to mount on foam core board for us. Frost Park art work is ideal for this event.
4. 24 hr COMIC BOOK DAY – coming up in October. Comic Book Ink has offered to host up to 6 or so CLAW members to participate. Comic book Ink is a union operation so strict 24 hr comic book day rules apply (so not like those spawns of insomnia Cartoonists Northwest clowns  north I-5).
5. Iron Artist Competition at Tacoma Art Museum – RR is team leader. Why? Nobody seems to know; however, this event is happening at end of the month and we will dominate. Construction of a ‘super fez’ was mentioned as a thought experiment; members are intrigued. Happening July 31st.  Lots of silly questions were mailed to us in a form letter. Will add to wiki for TEAM CLAW to ponder. Need to remember to bring tools. AND ask for a spot with POWER outlets.
6. STANLEY SHAW – talked about how much of a weenie this cartoonist is for refusing to join THE CLAW. The man has inside info to working for CityArts… Mark was assigned to pump him for more info.
7. CLAW ZINE ISSUE NO. 003 DRAFTING STAGE – with issue no. 002 hitting news stands in your friendly neighborhood participating Tacoma businesses now is the time to get issue no. 003 cooking.  RR was assigned editor and the theme we decided on is “THE CITY OF DENSITY” a parody of Tacoma’s famous tagline “The City of Destiny” made famous by George McFly in that Back to the Future film when he says to his future wife: “You’re my density!” We will apply this to comics; trying to fit in as many different vignettes on one page for each member inspired by Electric Elliots tiny strips from Zine ISSUE  NO. 1.
8. OTHER BUSINESS – sadly new member Jeff was the only member unable to attend. We managed to fold many more bundles of zines thanks to help from Member Mike’s wife (who escaped the fate of wearing the fez of shame). Did we mention how incredible Comic Book Ink is? Man that place is SERIOUS AWESOMENESS! Also apparently there is an all you can eat sushi place over on 38th that is rad.

this concludes the secret meeting notes. Please burn this monitor after reading.

New Member Michael Shaudis

June 24th 2009 was a momentous day in the life of Michael Shaudis. Having undergone the initiation ceremony at the CLAW’s Open Swim, he has now joined the ranks of absurdity. The new and improved back room at the Mandolin Café was filled with rejoicing, and an unusual amount of tea given the amount of testosterone in the room. Did I mention that our room sponsor, the Mandolin Café, has remodeled and now has a new and improved kitchen along with a enlarged back room that small, and even semi-big, group can rent for meetings and secret gatherings? Well, they do and might consider it a place for your next gathering.

Topics discussed were a comic page on Feed Tacoma, ideas tossed around at a recent Tacoma Circus meeting, Iron Artist at the Tacoma Art Museum, 24 Hour Comic Challenge coming on October 3rd 2009, the cultural significance of Eddy Izzard, and whether David Carradine truly was wearing fishnet stockings as he passed into the sweet hereafter. In short, if you weren’t there you missed a heck of a good time.

The CLAW (Cartoonists League of Absurd Washingtonians) will be having their Open Swim this Wednesday evening. The Open Swim is for both member and non-members. Anyone who wants to be part of the festivities is welcomed. Besides the usual hijinks of doodling and preparing the path for the robotic overlords, there just might be a secret ceremony performed. The time and location are:

Wednesday, 7:30 p.m. June 24th 2009
The Mandolin Café
3923 S 12th St
Tacoma, WA 98405
(In the New and Improved back room, to the left of the performance stage.)
RSVP if you can, space is limited.

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