Contesticuloso, man!

UPDATE: The contest ended today and two winners have been selected, congrats to @mon_chi and @erunuevo!

Update: I’ve decided to select TWO winners! Same rules apply, if you haven’t already entered for a free print, read below. If you already have, no need to re-enter

Check this out… it’s almost the end of the year and I thought we might celebrate with a simple little contest where the prize is a high-quality print of one of my illustrations, your choice! Yes, you will get to choose from any illustration that appears on my Twitpic timeline (except the tamales), and not only those that appear now but any that are added between now and the end of the year.

Some that have been posted already… (they open in a new window)

What you have to do is simple: tweet and follow me! Simply copy and paste this blockquote and tweet this beeyatch!

Help me win a #coolillustration print! RT and follow @hankville and you might win too! http://t.co/YX4JYNO

Just added!! Now it’s even easier! CLICK HERE TO RETWEET NOW!

Make sure the @hankville, #coolillustration hashtag and link stay! (If the link changes to one with a “wp.me” URL, that’s fine, it’s the same link!) And please make sure you’re following hankville! A few of you are retweeting but not following, so you don’t qualify, sorry! Contest ends New Year’s Eve night and the random winner will be selected New Year’s Day! Good luck!

Oh, and by the way… many of the images that are eligible for you to choose from will NEVER be available for sale! This may be your one and only chance to get one!

(FYI: size of the print will vary depending on illustration, but the shortest side will not be shorter than 11 inches)

Tags: art prints, contest, illustration, twitter, win

Vote, bitches!

Tags: ballot, california, hank 2010

Hank for California Governor campaign video!

Tags: governor, election, california, 2010, gubernatorial, change the fucking system

Vote for me in 2010!

I’ve decided to throw my hat into the 2010 California Gubernatorial election! I will be running as a member of the Rent Is Too Damn High And People Too Damn Dumb Party. As we approach voting time, I will be posting reasons why you should vote for me!

Or better yet, follow me on Twitter and keep tabs on the #ChangeTheFuckingSystem hashtag!

Tags: governor, election, california, 2010, gubernatorial, change the fucking system

It’s not always about hate…

Hopefully I won’t have to get this serious too often, but this situation has gotten way out of hand and I must address it!

The big topic dominating the media right now is the gay bullying issue, particularly in leading to suicides. I’m going to say this up front – IT IS NOT A GAY ISSUE. Bullying is something that affects just about EVERYONE at one point or another, especially at a young age.

I am not condoning the actions or events that led to this series of suicides; I am merely stating that people should not automatically assume there was homophobic hate behind the intent. One of the two involved in the latest suicide, that of Tyler Clementi, was a girl, and girls are generally not known to be homophobic. It could’ve simply been an unfortunate incident of a couple of young, immature students playing a prank on a fellow student, who happened to be gay. I mean, has anyone ASKED the two WHY they did it? Because no one is reporting that part.

To further expand on this particular idea… we currently live in a society where the younger people believe humiliation is funny. The more someone is humiliated, the funnier it is for the perpetrators, and thanks to the boom in user-generated content (i.e. YouTube), the funnier it is for strangers around the world. We have graduated from a society that laughed at people getting hit in the balls on an episode of America’s Funniest Home Videos, to one that thinks spying on someone during sex, especially when posted worldwide without consent, is funny.

Another point: gays committing suicide due to societal pressure is not new. I don’t understand why people are making a big deal out of this NOW since it’s been happening for decades.

Now my key point: the whole campaign being pushed right now by organizations all over is that of “we need to re-educate society.” They blame the “hate language”, the use of “fag”, “gay”, “queer” and other words as a way to demean. Yes, this kind of behavior may push people to commit suicide, but here’s the part that bugs me… they’re SUICIDES. The victim has taken it upon themselves to terminate their own life. This tells me that the victim was lacking in the ability to either do something about the situation, or to simply cope with the situation. I am NOT saying they should just take it; by “coping” I mean perhaps they should find some way to survive through it, because, yes, we may need to be re-educated, but that isn’t happening any time soon.

Nor am I calling the victims in these situations cowards. I don’t believe suicide to be a cowardly act in all instances (just think, truly think, about the commitment and effort required to end your own life). My point here is that given all the circumstances, in the case of suicides, the victim has made the wrong decision in how to react to the situation. For lack of better wording, the victim is partially responsible for their own death. They may have been pushed into a corner, but they made the decision to give up.

I’m not trying to blame the victim. I’m not saying that gay hate was not involved. I’m only trying to counter against the sudden glut in the media right now that gay people are defenseless and will kill themselves at the slightest offensive gesture. People are so quick to clamp onto an idea, usually someone else’s, that they never consider alternatives.

Tags: bullying, gay, getting real, suicides

I’ve been sick :(

I’ve been sick on and off the last couple of weeks

Here’s a pic I just took of me blowing a big-ass snot bubble.

Obligatory Duckface

This is for the ladies out there…

Tags: duckface, gq