Michael Dobkins

I spent the past 2 days listening to Dan Hicks on the headphones while I worked. How did I missed this guy’s music all my life? I even liked the Xmas album, and I spent my early work history in mall bookstores during the holidays. Thank you! You definitely earned good karma for 2026 with this one.

Video shows US military seizing oil tanker off Venezuela coast According to US Attorney General Pam Bondi, who shared the footage, the tanker was used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran.

How do you say "Gulf of Tonkin" in the Venezuelan Spanish dialect?

www.bbc.com/news/videos/...

If only the humans had just figured out how to give Godzilla scritches and pets in the first film, the entire Kajui film ouevre would have been more like the Lassie and Run Tin Tin franchises -- only with giant lizards.

Noted. What’s your stance on ending a post with “Put that in your pipe and smoke it?”

And yet, somehow George is portrayed as the hero, and Potter is the villain.

It can't be denied. IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE is ableist propaganda. Discuss.

An exuberant young George Bailey, carrying a suitcase, and about to leave Bedford Falls for college, shakes a grumpy Mr. Potter's hand in IT'S A WONDERFUL LiFE.

For decades, bitter, struggling smartass George Bailey mocks and obstructs disabled businessman Mr. Potter in spite of Potter's best attempts to guide and mentor the younger man. Potter even offers George employment, but George defiantly flings the offer back in Potter's face.

This is who plays Webster, I've decided

6/? From two years ago - relatively simple but all functional paper engineering - I decided these things needed to be foldable this year... A few different things going on here, but all worked smashingly, and it was pretty fun!

5/? I make similar for my big kid too - this one was the most difficult bit of paper engineering. It works, can be folded - took some figuring out... The birth of Athena from the brow of Zeus (with a bit of Kirby Krackle hidden in there)!

A photo of a popup handmade card of a Trojan horse and behind it a walled city and a sneaking Greek soldier…

4/? This was the very first one - the simplest but most functional. When you name your boy Odysseus - wooden horses are in your future…

3/? Ok, trying again to post a video - what was probably the pinnacle of my card making - the 3D effect of the buildings worked way better than I expected and it was a big hit! From his 3rd birthday. Nearly impossible to photograph adequately, but video does ok...

Photo of a handmade popup card of yellow submarine - featuring drawings of the Beatles popping out of sea of holes, nowhere man, the glove, love, snapping turtle, blue meanie, and of course the yellow submarine

2/? When he turned 2, yellow submarine - not really functional lore of a diorama, but a lot going on in it!

An unfolded popup card - teenage mutant ninja turtles leaping out at us on a city scape

An unfolded popup card - teenage mutant ninja turtles leaping out at us on a city scape - now we are looking from overhead and can see all four turtles and also Batman Beyond swooping in in the background

An unfolded popup card - teenage mutant ninja turtles leaping out at us on a city scape - totally overhead view - you can look down into he city but all the figures are near invisible as flat pieces of paper

Ok, it's that time of year again - gearing up to make an overly complicated popup card for my boy's birthday! Sharing a few from over the years that I'm particularly pleased with... (none of these photograph very well, videos of them give a better sense) 1/?

Completed popup card for my boy turning from 6 to 7! My ongoing birthday tradition of overly complicated cards continues! I abandoned trying to make this a functioning popup early on, and just went for the drawings - it’s more a paper diorama - but he was pleased, and so am I! Onward!

Photo featuring two sculptures of horses created with driftwood, side view facing each other on a beach in shallow water with reflections in blue sand under a pale blue sky

Heather Jansch, British sculptor who was known for creating life-sized sculptures of horses from driftwood #womensart

I've watched this three times just to savor the chef's kiss worthy underplayed acting of the police-bear.

I'm calling it at 4:59 PM PST. The maybe insane and lower case ben driscoll won the internet today.

maybe i am going insane

Sabrina Carpenter arrests Miss Piggy at the final show of her Short n’ Sweet tour in Los Angeles.

(📸: prfctsabrinas | Twitter/X)

So… April 15 is just around the corner. Waddaya got on the sinking of the Titanic?

I was so distracted by my compulsive need to quip that I utterly passed over acknowledging that you managed to the impossible: come up with a new angle on the Kennedy assassination after 63 years of American historical and conspiracy obsession. Pure genius, Beal. You should pitch it to McSweeney’s.

I always admired the way Zapruder avoided the sophomore slump cliche by quitting film-making completely after his first successful movie.

And that's when a rolodex filled with the names of dirty-handed men to hire as a freelance accounts payable enforcer would have really been an advantage.

there’s probably something better than river the intern cat walking into the office with a tiny foam soccer ball in her mouth, looking at me, seeing i’m busy, turning to leave, then when i say, “i have time to throw that for you,” she drops it & lets her mouth hang & then runs to fetch, but idk what

And how exactly are you going to “fight” for us, you feckless weasels?

Don’t even dare to believe for even a second that we’ll have forgotten your submissive capitulation today when the Democrats come around next year begging for donations to fund their 2026 campaigns. Weaklings.

Paul Tobin (@paultobin.bsky.social) Multiple Eisner winning writer of Bandette, Bunny Mask, Plants vs. Zombies, the Versus book series, String, Heart Acres, the Mammoth, and more. You can find me at PaulTobin.net

Kudos and chef’s kisses to collencoover.bsky.social, paultobin.bsky.social, and ghostgreen.bsky.social for 60 exquisite episodes of Heart Acres. Looking forward to next season.

Probably because she wasn't my supervisor.

I used to joke that it was fun watching once decent co-workers who had been promoted into management leave flakes from the dried-up husks of their souls on the carpet as they walked past.

I'm discreetly not mentioning any names, mind you, but...

I think I never encountered Tammy. Or if I did, she made no impression.

And how is Hobson doing these days?