Parents Pick Prayer Over Docs; Girl Dies

I wonder if these ass-hats would have waited if one of them had been sick?
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/D/DAUGHTERS_DEATH_PRAYER?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=US

Hawk Flies Off With Family's Pet At Doggie Day Care

I love dogs, but apparently not as much as this hawk.

http://www.local6.com/news/15719528/detail.html?1

Italian thief 'hypnotised cashier staff'

Do not click here! You may be an unwitting victim of this hypnotic mastermind.

If you must, click here.


The story:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/03/23/whypnotist123.xml

Man Shooting At Own Shadow

This guy took "shadow boxing" up a HUGE notch!

http://www.local6.com/news/15697258/detail.html

Tropical rainforest under attack…by trees

Oh the humanity!
http://www.rdmag.com/ShowPR.aspx?PUBCODE=014&ACCT=
1400000100&ISSUE=0803&RELTYPE=PHOT&PRODCODE=
0000000&PRODLETT=IY&CommonCount=0

Old Mascot

This is a Goblin character I drew a few years back. For whatever reason, he just "clicked" with me.
I inked him with a Hunt Globe # 513 EF , and I think this was one of the last times I used Zippatone. Then, after many more sketches, he morphed into this incarnation:


I cleaned him up in Flash, and used him as the mascot on my previous Flash based site.
He's holding an animation disc as a shield, and a blue pencil as a spear.
(Truth be told, I hate using a blue pencil that needs to be sharpened. They just seem too waxy to me, and hard to see. I was using a great mechanical pencil lead that was blue, but can't find the brand anywhere. Actually, I don't remember the brand, just the color of the box. )
I created a few comics featuring Max, the goblin, and his psychotic unicorn, Snowflake.
Dragon Magazine liked the characters, but they thought the stories lacked punch.
So, the pair of these characters are still locked in my skull, waiting for me to create something worthwhile with them.

Canastas en el Gallinero

Here is the Spanish version of this scene.

The Abpro mouse

This is a mascot I designed for a company in the Boston area. It was fun designing this little guy for the lab.
From Wikipedia : "Hybridoma are cells that have been engineered to produce a desired antibody in large amounts."
They wanted gif banner ads for their company. I did them in Flash, and made the gifs from those files.
Click on the mouse and you will see the ad in Flash.

Friday Freak # 13

I found out this week about the selections for the new Fantagraphic book, Beasts 2.
A book detailing creatures from folklore.
My submission didn't make it. I didn't realize that those of us submitting were all competing for ONE spot, but that's the way it goes.
Here it is, the Agropelter.
It lives in the forests of Minnesota, and throws broken tree limbs at unwary victims. It then stuffs the body into a hollow tree to be eaten later.
It is also fond of woodpeckers.

Kids use science, wit to create leprechaun traps

They really wanted to make a unicorn trap, but you need a virgin for that.
(...I'll be here all week...try the veal...)
http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2008/03/17/news/local/20-traps.txt

Rest easy, Pearlie

I found out over the weekend that Lena Morgan, known as Pearlie by the kids who loved her, passed away on Friday. Ninety years old, and when my family and I visited her last summer,
she was as spry as I remembered her.
I met Pearl in the late summer of '81.
It was a week or so before the school year at the Joe Kubert school of Cartoon and Graphic Art started.
I left Minnesota to go to New Jersey as if I was a wanted man. I was so excited. I was going to learn cartooning from my heroes, like Joe Kubert.
Absolutely no planning went into where I was going to stay. I had a few thousand on me from my summer jobs, and stayed in a motel in Dover, NJ, for two days.
Then I walked to the Kubert school. Muriel, Joe's wife, let me stay in the student housing til I found something, but the clock was ticking and she made it clear that I had to make my stay there as short as possible.
I called the list of available rooms to rent that she had given me, but everything was already rented.
Panic still hadn't set in yet. I called the last number, and Pearlie's son answered. I asked him about the room, and he said his mom only rented to girls.
You could have cut the silence with a knife. The next thing I knew, Kenny said.."hold on. I'll let you talk to my mom."
The voice on the other end had a sweet southern drawl, and she was as kind as could be, but she said that she only rented to girls.
I think I babbled something to her, sounding pathetic, and she said to come by the house and she would meet me.
It was night time, a Thursday I think, and I walked to her house. You have to remember that I didn't have a car, and I walked everywhere in NJ.
Anyhow, I met Pearlie and her son, Kenny, and the next thing I knew I was living at 142 Prospect Street, Dover NJ 07801.
( Don't send a card, there. We all had to move out at the end of the summer in '85.)
I worked to pay my way through school, and my rent was $35 a week , and she NEVER raised it even though she could have used the money.
She fed me and took care of me and like any stray I loved her with all my heart.
I would be up late, after coming home from work, eating something quick so I could start on my assignments, and Pearl would come home from bowling and tell me about her day over a cup of tea.
The girls, Linda, Mary Beth, and Ruth and I had a lot of great times with Pearlie under that roof.
( She had also rented to other guys, like my room mates, Mark and Ben. I think I softened her up).
By her count she had taken care of 37 or 39 kids.
One of the best times we had was when I wore a lobster costume one Christmas to pass out gifts.
Another was when we almost peed ourselves when her brother's wife put on a fashion show, dressing her poodle in these crazy outfits. God did we laugh!
Through thick and thin, Pearlie was the kind of woman who would speak her mind and stand up for what's right.
She was a wonderful woman and I feel truly blessed to have known her.
People like Pearlie don't have statues dedicated to them, but monuments are made in her image in each heart of those whose lives were touched by her.
Your work is done, Pearlie. Rest easy.

Skate Park Prophet

When I am sketching, I try not to let my conscious mind get in the way of what I'm doing. Unless I set out to draw something specific, I try, and it's tough, to not self-edit and let whatever I am drawing come out on its own.
This is what happened when I was thinking of Daniel and the Lions' Den, and skate parks.

Friday Freak #12

Man, I have been really cranking out the lessons for Compass Learning. I'm having a lot of fun with this client, but I get so fried after awhile that it's hard to think of something to draw.
The headlines are kinda bleary to. What am I gonna do, draw a funny picture of the New York Gubner hooking up with his whore?
Anyhow, this is a scene I did for a lesson plan for Ghost Hunter Productions.
It's for a story called " Hoops in the Coop". A team of chickens plays basketball against the bad guys, a team of turkeys.
I animated the story in English and Spanish, as this lesson plan is designed to teach children and adults to read.
Very cool people to work with.

DAVE STEVENS R.I.P.

I just found out that Dave Stevens passed away, losing his fight with leukemia.
I never met him, but like many others, knew him through his immense talent.
The man could draw...anything.
You need a hulking villain,?Got one right here. A young hero? Covered!
A beautiful woman? Do you even have to ask? Not to mention dinosaurs, cars, etc.
My thoughts go out to his family and loved ones.
Rest easy.

Bulldozers tear down Giant Religious Teapot

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/08/02/wteapot02.xml

So I'm listening to the Detroit Cobras, waiting for my next assignment from Compass Learning to download, and as I read the paper...TA DAA!
Hopefully today's multiple postings will make up for last week's lack of updates.
Oh the humanity!

Seals win their day in Court

Punitive damages awarded were unlimited visits to the lunch buffet at Red Lobster!
(...and the right to defecate where ever they wanted to. Watch your step!)

http://www.topix.com/business/healthcare/2008/03/seals-win-their-day-at-san-diego-beach

Southwest Airlines Skip Safety Checks

C'mon......relax. Who wants some peanuts?
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/04/02/southwest.faa.inspection/index.html

Japan whale experiments bizarre

It's been a while since I last posted. Had a vile disease, and then passed it to my kids.
Well, we are all healthy now, and the Fates have given me a great headline to work with.
The story:
http://news.smh.com.au/japan-whale-experiments-bizarre-report/20080308-1xyj.html

RIP Gary Gygax

The creator of Dungeons and Dragons has passed away.
As a poor art student, I spent many a weekend rolling the die, battling ogres, trolls, etc.
He will be remembered fondly by his fans.
Rest easy.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/O/OBIT_GYGAX?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=US