Forget everyone else: Gifts to give yourself this holiday season

even if only through his muscular influence. ( - SPAIN RODRIGUEZ )"He had a big influence on me through his artwork" Crumb says in a 2012 documentary created by Rodriguezs journalist wife Susan Stern reports the (The film is named for his street-fightin superhero a raw-knuckled one-man Occupy movement) Spain could make ink ripple and resonate His style could be bold and blunt and grunting as in-your-face as an urban hustler but it somehow always remained seductiveHe drew road warriors and revolutionaries At times to strangers and eventual friends alike he could resemble both himself"I first met Spain at the East Village Other in New York in 1969 just as I started my career in underground comix" "Zippy the Pinhead" creator Bill Griffith tells Comic Riffs on Wednesday "He was intimidating he looked like a cross between a Hells Angel and a Communist revolutionary But instead of sneering at me Spain was welcoming and friendly"Over the years as we became friends in San Francisco we had many a lengthy discussion about art history and drawing" "Spain was an important part of the underground comix movement a member of the Zap fraternity and an artist who held his revolutionary beliefs until the day he died" Fantagraphics co-founder Gary Groth tells Comic Riffs "His point of view was Marxist/blue-collar which he imbued with a brawling in-your-face street-level humanity"Rodriguezs career often followed his passions While young he rode with the Road Vultures motorcycle club which came through in his comics While nearing 70 he created [VIDEO: ]"Although he was famous for being a member of a motorcycle gang in his youth and for his physical scrapes I always found him to be a sweet gentle and centered person firm in his convictions but never bullying" Groth tells Comic Riffs "I had the privilege of editing and publishing his last book his autobiographical account of growing up a wild fist-fighting juvenile delinquent in Buffalo in the 50s and working with him on the book was a joy"And Spains work streamed like a waterway through the city"Its hard to imagine San Francisco without Spain Rodriguez" says Andrew Farago curator of the citys "Walk down any street and hes got at least one poster in a shop window If youve read an alternative weekly paper in the past 45 years youve seen his illustrations Any bookstore that carries graphic novels any comic shop any independent theatrical house . Spain had it covered" His art could be seen in Mother Jones and top museums He would draw for the New York Times or Hustler or Salon He worked with such bards as Pekar and BukowskiHe made theatrical posters He made film setsAnd most everywhere he went it seems he made friends"Personally" Groth says "he was a large-spirited artist wonderful company a great raconteur and an easy sense of humor""He was a gifted storyteller in person and in print" Farago tells Comic Riffs "and he always had time to talk to artists whether hed known them since the 1960s or had just met them" "Last time I visited him he made me a mean bowl of chili" Griffith recalls to Comic Riffs "The [San Francisco] Chronicle had just dropped Zippy for the second time and Spain decided to take me around to his San Francisco haunts to show me how much the city appreciated my strip "Everywhere we went praise flowed but it was as much for Spain as it was for me If anyone was loved by everyone in San Francisco it wasnt me it was Spain"Manuel "Spain" Rodriguez died Wednesday at age 72 after a long battle with cancer according to the Chronicle"Every time I draw folds in clothing or a big city skyline or a thousand other things he drew so beautifully I think of Spain" Griffith tells us"He was a comics master of the highest order" "Girl Genius's" eighth volume won the inaugural award in this category. Andy Kubert, but on Wednesday the same old mistakes seeped back into their play. The Nationals produced 12 base runners ?? six hits and six walks ?? but only three runs.??As an American who believes in the freedoms that we have and the way we run our society and culture, Patrick, a place renowned for its anti-apartheid plays under white rule Many in the audience saw parallels to another civil rights leader and his legacy: Nelson Mandela As the 95-year-old anti-apartheid leader with a recurring lung infection the play reminded many of his unfulfilled dreams for their country and that his broader ideals are bigger than one person and would hopefully outlive him"It reminded me a lot of Madiba" said Neo Mohlabane 36 referring to Mandela by his clan name after a performance one evening "It reminded me of how much he sacrificed his life for us" in June South Africans have been soul-searching about his legacy and their countrys state of progress nearly two decades after he became South Africas first black president in 1994 Although the government recently said his condition had improved he remains under round-the-clock medical care in a hospital in Pretoria The past few weeks have resembled a sordid play of sorts Mandelas family over where he should be buried Some relatives have tried to market his name and image and some have sought control of his business interests triggering anger and disgust among many South Africans The public has been outraged by politicians including President Jacob Zuma who have attempted to gain more political clout by linking themselves to the frail national icon In many ways whats unfolding publicly reflects how human Mandela truly is much in the same way "The Mountaintop" seeks to portray King separating his saintly image from his flesh-and-blood faults tackling issues of mortality and legacy In the award-winning play written by Katori Hall the Baptist minister is in his hotel room preparing for his speech the following day April 4 1968 when he would be assassinated He smokes checks for bugs planted by the FBI and flirts with a hotel maid a whiskey-drinking cussing angel named Camae He is vulnerable admitting that he is consumed by fear When the angel informs him that hes going to die King frets about his legacy Camae implores him to understand that the civil rights revolution that he had spearheaded will outlast him and that there will be others to carry on his work She urges him to pass the baton" The Mountaintop is a fitting play for South Africans right now as a reminder that the movement is bigger than the man and to give them hope that if an idea or philosophy is strong enough it will prevail" read a review in Business Day a prominent local newspaperThe actors in the play said the attention they have received because of Mandelas hospitalization has been gratifying if unexpected "The timing is eerie" said Mwenya Kabwe 36 who plays Camae "Its topical in a way we did not anticipate" Many in the audience disagreed about whether todays generation of leaders could pick up where Mandela leaves off In recent years there has been its leaders accused of being corrupt ineffective and out of touch with South Africas impoverished masses Zuma himself is fighting allegations of misusing public funds to renovate his private residence Many black South Africans are still struggling with high unemployment a lack of housing education clean water and other services more than two decades after the end of apartheid and its segregationist policies"I cant see anybody who has the ability to take the baton from Mandela" said Monyake Mohlabane 39 a civil engineer and Neos husband "There is not anybody who has the same dream in our current leadership Things will get worse before they get better"Briony Horwitz 29 an actress who also watched the play one evening noted that just as in the civil rights struggle there were unheralded people who championed the fight against apartheid alongside Mandela"We need to spend a lot more time looking at who the heroes were around him" Horwitz said "There is this focus that Mandela ended apartheid which is just not true Thats the thing that happened in a celebrity-focused world that you want an icon to make it simple There were lots of people who joined the struggle and did great things" the previous tenant at this spot -- Mister Days is bound to be a bit of a shock. But it's not Lulu's.

??)The decision overturns a ruling by the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals that?against Amex despite arbitration agreements between the credit card company and the merchants suing over allegedly unfair fees The majority??s reasoning will extend beyond arbitration over antitrust rights however and almost certainly beyond federal causes of action There??s little doubt that one of the only other decisions to buck the Supreme Court??s 2011 pro-arbitration holding in?" said Kevin Walkush,"They (Nokia) only have 3 percent market share in smartphones. but they know that lying in a matter of trust is wrong. and I am waiting to see evidence of any institution which was repulsed by benchmark rigging on principle.Although Loeb has not disclosed his intentions forChesapeake, includingYahoo, quickly sparked a firestorm of protests from bond investors that the plan would set a bad precedent,The failure of the federal government??s effort to help the millions of underwater borrowers who are keeping up with the mortgage payments gave rise to one of last year??s more controversial ideas in the mortgage market?Cusing the local government??s power of eminent domain to seize distressed mortgages and rewrite them.Similarly.