Croc takes up residence at golf course

How could I resist a "Caddyshack" reference?
The link to the story :
http://www.boston.com/news/odd/articles/2008/01/29/australian_golf_course_gains_crocodile/

Mermaids become state employees

Another fantastic headline.

http://www.winknews.com/news/weird/14813231.html

Man dies in crocodile orgy

Maybe it wouldn't have happened if he hadn't been a tease.
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,23125829-5013016,00.html

World's First Weed ATM

In the word's of Judge Judy, " This is some America!"

http://www.thrillist.com/archives/2008/01/worlds_first_weed_atm_la_los_angeles_gadgets_midwilshire.html

Happy chemical accident ?

I was watching a program and a character referred to life as a "happy chemical accident".
It struck me as cynical, and funny, that this miraculous event would take place, and after the various forms of life struggle to make it to land, this question pops to mind.

Oh My Darlin'

I was looking around my studio this morning, and noticed my Huckleberry Hound plaque
on the wall. Those guys at Hanna Barbera really knew how to design a character.
Huckleberry Hound always cracked me up. One of my favorite cartoons of his was the one with the Giant Potato, but Huck called it a spud.
Just a quick sketch inspired by that can-do dog.

Friday Freak #5

Just got to drawing some rocks and stuff, and then this guy popped out. Notice that crazy grid pattern from my graph paper sketchbook. I'll have to do a drawing utilizing that grid sometime.

Friday Freak #4

I have been slack in the posting of the FRIDAY FREAK. This one is called "Peepers".

City Battles Giant Blob

What a headline!
Here's the story:
http://www.wmtw.com/news/15130441/detail.html?rss=port&psp=news

Shark Character

This is one of the character poses I designed for USA Testprep. The shark, along with other characters such as a robot, pirate, zombie, and others, compete in an on-line game designed to test students' knowledge of a wide variety of subjects.
The game is called " SUPER GRADUATION KOMBAT SMACKDOWN ".
As the players miss questions, these avatars get more and more beat-up.

Belching cows

You know, I grew up in a small farming community in Central Minnesota.
The town was surrounded by many dairy farms, at least a thousand cattle, maybe more.
But we still had winters with feet of snow, and bitter cold.
I didn't realize that cows contributed to "global warming ".
(Maybe our cows were more polite, and didn't belch in public like some Swedish cows.)

Here's the story:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,324446,00.html

Scientists develop computer that can 'translate' a dog's bark

SCIENCE!
Who knew that there was a demand for such a device?
Oh well, here's the story:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=508550&in_page_id=1811

Scientists Test Dinos' Sexual Maturity

The first thing that popped into my head.

Here's the actual story:
http://www.happynews.com/news/1172008/scientists-test-dinos-sexual-maturity.htm

Organs to be taken without consent

Hmm..British trifecta in play with the recent stories in the news.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=GK0FARS1NQKNTQFIQMGSFGGAVCBQWIV0?xml=/news/2008/01/13/norgans113.xml

Government rejects elephants for pets e-petition

Britain. 'nuff said.Here's the story.

Cheers!

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/10/elephant_petition/

Separated twins married each other

Ever notice that the stranger the story, the more likely it is that it comes from one of two geographic locations; Florida, or Great Britain?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7182817.stm

The check is in the mail...really!

I tell you, if someone wrote this in a sitcom, no one would buy it.
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080110-unpaid-bills-lead-phone-companies-to-hang-up-on-fbi-wiretaps.html

Paul Coker Jr. and Frosty

This past Christmas season, my son and I watched at least one of the old Christmas specials each night.
We really got a kick out of the original Frosty the Snowman. Character designs, voice work, all of the things I loved about it, he didn't care about. All he knew was that he liked the way it looked, and it made him laugh.
The next night, we watched Frosty Returns. Complete 180 from the night before.
You know there's trouble when the cartoon hasn't been on more than 10 minutes, and he's asking how long til the end.
He was bored by it. So to make up for that we watched The Year Without a Santa Claus.
That more than made up for the first half of the evening.
That being said, I'm not knocking the guys who worked on the second Frosty. I have had to animate some terrible, boring projects myself. The only thing you can do is to try and slip some funny business into your scene, and realize that soon it will be done, watched, and forgotten.
As long as the check clears and no one gets hurt, well...I can sleep at night knowing that I did my best.
Back to Frosty.
So the next morning, I wake up thinking about Frosty and the terrific Paul Coker, Jr designs.
Which gets me to think of the old Rankin and Bass stuff, The Reluctant Dragon, etc., which gets me to thinking about MAD magazine and the work he did for them..
Before I knew it I was writing a little note to him, expressing to him the kick I got out of sharing Frosty with my 8 year old.
I put in another line about how I have been a fan of his as I was growing up, and still am!
( Look at his line work, his poses, these old timers could really crank it out!)
Put the note in the mail and forgot about it.
Well, not really. One day, two, three..then it kind of drifted from my mind as I was caught up in deadlines and such.
Today, I got the mail, and as I was going through the junk mail and bills and other flotsam, there it was.
A letter from Paul Coker, Jr.,written in his unmistakable hand.
I was very touched that he took some moments out of his day to reply.
A few lines is all, and maybe you wouldn't think that it's such a big deal.
I'm a long way from the fat kid who read his comics under the blankets in the night,
trying not to laugh out loud at the Horrifying Cliches he did for MAD , but that little fat kid in the past, and me in the present, had a smile ear to ear when we opened that letter today.
It was a wonderful gesture from a class act.

Taser unveils holster with music player

Stuck for a gift idea? Tired of mixing Pink Floyd and The Wizard of Oz?
Say no more!
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22541041/

Stuck in a groove!

After I finished Boss Whale, I was stuck in a groove.
The Boss started me thinking about what sperm whales do eat, ( squid) , and then I made the leap to what it would feel like to work for someone who ate a member of your family, ( but you needed the job so you didn't quit) .
Then, I thought about the place I used to work at, and how it was like pulling teeth to try and get some people to own up to what they did.


And of course, the problems with the receipts.
Anyhow, I think I got this out of my system for now.
Whew!

Friday Freak #4

Watching " Blue Planet " on the Discovery Channel, and started sketching.
For some reason, I started thinking about businessmen and employees, and fringe benefits.
I guess that's where this came from.
I bought two cheap books filled with graph paper from Waldenbooks, and you can see the little
squares peeking through the marker.

Great White stalks ocean canoeist!

This is one of the most amazing pictures I have seen in a while!
Click on the above picture for video. : )

The complete story is here :
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=505753&in_page_id=1770

Happy New Year!

Wishing you a fantastic New Year!