MEMORIAL DAY

To most on the left, this day is nothing more than 'Monday'. Or at the very most a day off from work. To those of us that both love our country and love our service people, this is

"Memorial Day"

A day we set aside to remember and pay our respects to those who have served and to those who have given the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty, for this country.
Now I wish that I could say that everyone in this country both love their country and love our troops, but when just days ago the democrats have to be virtually beaten up to finally and begrudgingly (at the 11th hour!!) release the funds to support our troops in the work that they are doing, and then complain about it, saying that they have not given up on the quest to surrender to the enemy....Obviously, there are those in this country who do NOT love their country OR the service people who defend it.
Thankfully, most in this country DO love their country and service people, and do know why this is the best country in the world.
And WILL celebrate a moment of silence or reflect on those who have fallen and who have served. who DO keep you in daily and nightly prayer.
and while those on the left who know nothing about this day or could give a damn about it, as is summed up by their House 'leader' who is on this very important day, is now in (where else?) Germany, for a lil talk about 'climate control'. Pretty telling isn't it? Their constituents which are the ones who riot in Seattle and burn cars and look like they haven't showered in months, are happily in the minority.
WE support you, and we love you and pray for you and your family. Because you ARE our family.
I respect you, I Honor you and for the fallen, I will remember you.

God bless you, and may God keep you.

"BY THE NUMBERS"

Well, for those of you that are unfamiliar with my views, I lean unabashedly to the right. When I first came into the bloggy mix, I had many an argument with a wussy man by the name of 'countfunkypants'. He was pretty much the epitome of the leftist nutbag. A whole lot of emotion with very little thought. Well now he has a 'by the numbers' chart on his blog. I'd like to address them.

He (like most leftists) are crying about the loss of troops. As if they really gave a damn about the troops. We all know that they don't. But lets take some of his numbers, shall we?
3,000 plus troops have lost their life in Iraq. Fighting and ultimately dying for the core beliefs that make this country the best country on this planet.
Each loss is tragic. But we have to look, well....at the numbers!

War of 1812: 20,000 dead
Mexican-American war: 13,000 dead
Civil War: 62,000 (approx)
World War I: 116,000
World War II: 405,000
Korean: 34,000
Vietnam: 58,000

Iraq:3,000

Folks, While each loss is tragic, It is STAGGERING that our losses are that low after these three + years. Staggering. Especially when the task is enormous.
The fact of the matter is that leftists don't really care about the numbers. They don't really care about anything at all. They care about themselves. And that's pretty much it. They are Narcissists. The fact that there are people that raped children, that buried thousands of people in mass graves, that killed parents in front of the children. That tortured children and women in front of husbands. That killed entire families as punishment for a family member speaking his mind.
People that will send children with bombs strapped to themselves---to kill mourners at a funeral.
That BEHEAD grade schoolers outside of their school and toss the heads into the school, to 'send a message'.

This isn't important to a lefty. You will hear them say: "Not one more life for this worthless war!!"
In France circa 1939 this would have been translated to "Not worth a single life.....NOT FOR A JEW!"

It kinda makes you wonder what the limp wristed, noodlespined leftists would be squealing if they had been alive in 1944 after the pounding that we took after the landing on Omaha Beach. Where we suffered over 3,000, during the first few hours of the initial landing.
OR after the battle of Iwo Jima where we lost close to 7,000 troops, after the 36 day battle.
What would they be saying? "Its not worth it." "lets leave, Lets run away."
My goodness! I bet they would just be screaming and crying at the top of their squeaky little voices!!

But that was a different time. Surly there was no such thing as the narcissistic left back then.
Oh but there was, though. It was called....France. And what was France back in 1940?
Occupied. Surrendered to the Nazis.

At this point in time, We have our crazed left, all to eager to surrender to the modern Nazi. islamo-facists that have all the insanity, and all of the evil of the Nazi 67 years ago.....and MORE.
The left is as always, all to willing to cozy up to evil. They sure aren't willing to fight it. Not for the innocent of Iraq. And they still after all these years, still hate Jews. Which is why there is so much venom aimed at Israel.
Maybe the reason that they are all to willing to surrender (and the quicker the better) to evil, Is that they, the leftist, have SO much in common with them.
Hatred of Jews and Christians.
Narcissism and the love of self.
Ego and insecurity
and freakish elitism and group think.
and small penises. ( Well that's what I heard!)
LASTLY: Another set of numbers was that Bush's Job approval was 33%. That's pretty tough. But he's making the hard choices that one has to make. And sometimes you have to make those decisions because its THE RIGHT THING TO DO.
What 'countfunkypants' declines to tell you, is that the democrat congresses approval is at 29%!!!
LOWER than GWB's approval! Now why IS that? What's THEIR excuse?
HAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! I don't know...I love that though. I'm not one to take polls seriously. They dont mean a thing to me. The 'right thing' is the 'right thing'. Whether or not its popular at the time. But I did find it VERY interesting how that was left out of his (countsy's) numbers.
LOWER than Bushes. That's a hoot. Poor stupid wide eyed nancy. Poor stupid 'countsy' (and his mindless tag-a-longs).
Poor stupid left.
To be fair though, strength, courage and the love of country has never been their strong points. so it only makes sense that they would fall back on what they know.
Surrender and the appeasement of evil.
What a proud legacy.

KILLER SCORPION!!

.....and not the kind with receding hairlines and killer riffs, but ready to rock me like a hurricane all the same.
Its pretty fascinating really. I'm still amazed that I didn't get stung. Especially since my foot was on him for at LEAST five seconds. My Dad seems to think the stank from my foot might have stunned it.
Whatever.
I'm glad that I'm here to share the lovely little critter story with you. Enjoy.

PS: I'll have another post for you on late Friday. Gots me sumpin to say. Little hint?

Time to slap your assy countsy. You kinda have it coming. Don't worry though, I wont be too rough on you.
Pansy.

Ummmmm...

SO! Last Monday, the 14th, I went to my studio to finish up on some work. Bowl of popcorn in one hand, huge cup of coffee in the the other. I set my corn down and pull out my chair--all set to get a head start on the next days work. Feeling good about where I'm at in the work, and riding a corn n' coffee high, I pull my chair out and prep myself to lower my well formed hiney on said chair. When I feel my foot....on something. I think nothing of it, thinking it may be a runaway corn kernel.
I look down as I pull my foot up off the foreign object, only to see that the corn kernel ended up ACTUALLY being....a friggin SCORPION.

Yes, a scorpion...about four + inches long.
I let out a loud (yet manly) scream. Which brought my wife down to see what the commotion was.
When I took my foot off of it, it turned quickly and scurried a little bit. It surprised me that
1) It wasn't squished. And was TOTALLY intact!
2) that he didn't run in panic as an ant or a roach would. He pretty much stayed in one spot.
TOUGH mutha which actually freaked me out some.
and 3) That the damn thing didn't STING me! I looked at my wife after I told her what it was, and asked her " now I would KNOW if this thing stung me, wouldn't I??" she said "Oh yeah!"
Since I wasn't foaming at the mouth or peeing on myself, I considered myself fortunate, And told myself twas now time to take care of the situation.
My wife offered me a shoe for my surgical strike and I braced myself for the assault.
Pondering a war cry I briefly considered "TAKE THAT LIBERAL SCUM!" But since this was indeed NOT a roach, I found it ill fit for the task. I opted for a quick and silent yet very deadly strike.
Now since I've never had to actually KILL a scorpion before, I thought I would just play it safe and smack it REALLY REALLY HARD!
I did a wind up, in order to open up said whoop ass on said scorpion, and raised my weapon of choice (said shoe).

SHHHHHHHHHHHHHWAAAAAAAAAAAACK!!!!

Whoop-ass commenced.

Twas the end of the scorpion, twas the end of the story........or so you would think.
I raised my scorpion stomper,only to find that the DAMN THING WAS STILL ALIVE!!
HE WAS.....STILL.....ALIVE.
Now I had a very pissed, and somewhat more mobile scorpion as he pivoted around as if to say
"what the hell? Is it raining in here?" He didn't even look fazed!
Puzzled, I stood back expecting him to leap at my face Ala the cute killer bunny from Monty pythons 'holy grail' and kill me dead.
Where were the guts??
Where was the bug blood? Where was the gruesome mess that I'm so accustomed to cleaning up after such a savage attack on other bugs?
It is at that precise moment that I came to the wise conclusion that "Dem scorpions is tuff, sum-bitches!"
So, I figured that I should have another go at him before he figures its time for a counter attack.
So I swung back even higher. If you've ever watched any sort of "pro" wrestling, then you might have the image of someone going to the 'top rope'. You wouldn't be far off the mark.
I 'TOP ROPED' it baby! I ' TOP ROPED' it goooooooooooooooooooooood.
KAAAAAAAAAAATHWAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I held the shoe down for several seconds. Teeth gritted, neck veins buldging. All very "Frazetta dramatic"!
I lifted the shoe....He was definitely feeling some of the effects from the whoop ass. But believe it or not...NO GUTS! A---freaky deaky--MAZING!
So I partook in a third dosage of whoop-ass'ing. JUST to be safe!
KAAAAAAAAAAAA--THOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!
We HAVE GUTS!! WE HAAAAAAAAAAAAAVE GUTS!!
Although just a little, but enough seepage to tell me that it was OK to pick up the sucker .
As I scooped him in a cup, his damn tail curled up. Scared the crap outta me. But it was dead.
Yes, it was dead.
All hail the scorpion killer! (thank you).
I walked around the house for awhile just looking at this thing. Totally flabbergasted at how tough these things are. I took some pictures of it, I'll post those when I get the chance. Maybe in a day or so. Keep yourself peeled for that.
I pondered a Viking Burial, but since I did not have any small boat to set flame to, I settled on tossing the carnage in the back yard and got myself back to work.
The only thing is, that I kept thinking that there are times when I'll just pull up a pillow and take a nap on the floor of my studio. After thinkin about that, I ended up giving myself the creeps all night.
If you've ever had 'pee shivers', it was very much like that! And that made getting ANY work done for the night- a very, VERY difficult task indeed.

Moral of the story:

When life hands you scorpions, GO TO THE TOP ROPE, BABY!....Everytime.

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY

Some of the most powerful memories I have, have to do with my Mom. An incredible woman who taught me some of the most valuable lessons in life.
Lessons of love, happiness, sorrow, pain. The heartbreak of loss and the joy of triumph. How to face your fears and how to fight. Courage and Faith.

And how to laugh. ...Oh, that laugh.

Happy Mothers Day Mom. And thank you for inspiring me. For teaching me
how to live each day and to thank God for every one that I am blessed to live.

I love you and carry your laugh in my heart.

SPIDER-MAN 3

Now I wasn't going to write about the movie for this entry, But I thought since I have some thoughts on it, why not share a lil bit!
Last Friday, My studio took us on a noontime screening of "Spiderman 3". A very cool theatre that serves you up lunch or dinner right at your seat! I had a very good steak sammich, but skipped the alcohol..I did after all, have to get back to work for the rest of the day.

The movie: I liked it. Not sure if I loved it. I definitely have to see it again to make that determination. Although I did walk away a lil frustrated.
Not because its over two hours long, but because I just felt like so much valuable time was badly spent. For one thing there is just TOO many frigging villains in this. Raimi kept it in check for the first movie..just one villain. Did the same for the second movie...just one villain. Which makes me doubt that he's going to be doing another Spidey movie, because it almost feels like him saying, "well since this is my last...lets have FOUR VILLAINS!"
Yup..four villains. 1) Sandman 2) Venom 3) Harry aka goblin junior 4) Eddie Brock.
I'll get to Eddie and venom in a sec, first lets talk about 'Sandman'.

The sandman as played by Thomas Hayden Church, is just fantastic. I didn't think that they were going to be putting as much into that character as they did. But MAN! Was he awesome.
You really feel for him. You feel for his situation. You wish you could help him. I wish there was MORE of him.
Then there is Harry, who is still being freaky deaky with hatred for Spiderman/peter. BLAH BLAH BLAH.
But lets get to Venom. Venom was treated as a throw away character. Which is fine because Venom is and always HAS been a nothing character. I've never been all that crazy about him. The best thing about that character is the effect that he/it has on the people that it commits to.
You see the effect that he has on peter. And its played pretty well. UNTIL....and this is what really bothers me....Until its played for cheap laughs.
There is something that I always play in my head, no matter what I'm drawing,painting, etc..."remember what type of story your trying to tell."
Not too long ago, disney put out a film, called the 'hunchback of notre dame'. Now there are scenes in that movie that i remember saying "what the hell???"
The hunchback story first of all is a very dark story, So disney taking a stab at it immediately sends up warning flags. And sure enough....there's a song that the gargoyle comical sidekicks (ugh I cant believe i said 'comical gargoyle sidekicks') sing that is just soooo idiotic. It even has them all playing poker with 'quasi' wearing a visor!
WHAT TYPE OF MOVIE ARE YOU TRYING TO MAKE?????
Well..that's what I was saying in my noggin at certain times in the Spiderman movie. One such moment is the jazz club dance between 'dark peter' and Gwen Stacy. Peter goes on this spider powered waltz in order to tweak Mary Jane.
Now don't get me wrong...it all looked damn cool, especially the chair stuff. But the focus should be on making you really feel how dark and nasty peter is turning. You should really feel it-the intention to HURT, really HURT someone he, peter, cared for.
Instead...its mainly played for laughs. Playing the piano like hes a jazz pro, waltzing as if ......I don't know. Silly.
For anyone that knows anything about movie history, it is what it is: An obvious tip of the hat to Jerry Lewis's "nutty professor". (geeky professor makes a serum, drinks serum-turns nasty and mean, but hip, dances around...etc).
I don't know..the whole sequence was pretty powerless to me. And it shouldn't have been.
Another thing that bothered me, was Eddie Brock....man! I loved the way Topher Grace was playing him! Lots of texture, lots of personality. While 'venom' the character is a throw away, Eddie Brock is NOT.
But they end up wizzing through some major important stuff like him being humiliated in front of the office staff. Which should have really been played up so that YOU felt it too...You should have felt the rough competition between him and peter. To lead into the harsh humiliation. Enough to JUSTIFY him wanting to "kill Peter Parker". And you don't. Not one bit. You kind of roll your eyes when he delivers the "kill peter parker" line.

Again....more time being fritted away.
Here's what I'd do:
movie is 2 hours 20 Min's.
1) Cut harry out all together. I don't want to see the goblin for awhile. Let us feel like a lot more time has gone by to justify Harry becoming a pro goblin glider and fighter. (sheesh).
2) Cut out silly scenes that shouldn't be silly- don't waste the time or momentum. There is ( I SWEAR!!) FIVE MINUTES of song and footage of 'dark peter' walking down the street to a song ( a cool song albeit) pointing at girls. Getting a suit, and doing a little jig. But I don't feel the threat of a darkening personality. I just see a geek who was a geek and well...still is a geek, who now for some reason can dance and play piano. (silly).
3) It shouldn't have been Harry coming to help Spiderman, It should have been Sandman. Therefore spending the time making 'venom' a more powerful threat. Rather than just a nothing.
4) Don't put Gwen Stacy in unless your going to have her be more than just a model.
jeesh....Gwen Stacy is as close to a 'canonized' character as your going to get. Give her something more than just a dance scene otherwise why have her in the movie at all?
(The actress DID look exactly like her tho--good choice).
5) Don't make 'dark Peter' look like 'lil nicky'. That kinda sucked. Again I didn't feel the threat of a changing personality as much as I saw a gay goth geek. Pretty much any fine art grad at cal-art.

Well...those are a few things that jump out at me. I have other things, but it would just be small nitpicky stuff. Not worth mentioning. Believe it or not, I did like it. I had fun and I'm just not going to hate anything that at least respects its source material, and takes it seriously.
And Raimi does do that. I just would have liked a little more coherent take on this story.
But it was fun.....and that steak sammich was da' bomb, baby!

although...now that I think of it....In hindsight, I should'a had that beer.
crap.

Go see it. Its doing bang up bidness and I'm glad. Cause its fun and its good for COMICS!

"TALENT"

All to often I rankle the feathers of many of my co-industry nerds.
How?
Well, when I say that 'talent' for the most part.....is a myth.
Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
Now how often will you hear that?? Not very often I'm guessing. Especially from any industry goof. Pick your art industry. But I'm here to tell you that its true.--again for the MOST part!
Now you'll have those freaks of nature like Mozart who came out of his momma playing his umbilical cord. But for the most part, Its all learned.
There isn't a damn thing that CANT be learned. I can't tell you how many times someone has seen something that I've done, be it a painting, be it animation, be it a storyboard, be it sculpture, be it character design, be it a drawing, and have said "Gosh oh golly, I wish I could draw." To which I ALWAYS reply;
"You CAN".
Now the reason this irks so many of my fellow 'artists', is because this obviously takes the mystery out of it. It takes the cosmic power out of it. And therefore plays to their insecurities and of course is a threat to their all too precious ego's.
"But Handel!! If that's the case, why doesn't EVERYONE draw or paint?"
Fair enough question. The answer is, not everyone is 1) disciplined enough to sit down and commit the HOURS and HOURS that it takes to DO a good drawing, painting, etc.
THAT is the thing that enables the 'skill'. Not this cosmic, sexy, meaningless term 'talent'.
I have been blessed with the ability and the passion to sit down and devote the hours that turned into the years and ultimately the decades to hone this ability. As with anyone with any task: cooking, speaking in public, reading, etc.
Now, there is the component of 'degree'. To what degree do I hone it?
Someone who says "Damn it, I want to draw and I want to draw well!"-- CAN become good at it. To WHAT DEGREE depends on his passion FOR it.

NOW, some people are good at several things. I am (for lack of sounding immodest) pretty good at several art forms. I heard someone coin the phrase "creative ADD". That's me. I just have several loves. Animation, comics, illustration, character design....You name it. I dig it.
So, I've delved into ALL of them. And I'm pretty good. The problem that types like me have, is that we get bored...quickly. We get into the idea and then mid way through, something else pops into our beanies and we want to attack that rather than finish what we're on!
I cant tell you how many unfinished pictures and sketches I have laying on my studio floor. Its actually embarrassing.
Another problem that this type has, is that while we may be pretty good at just about everything, many times we are master of nothing, because our attention is soo divided, between many different projects and different art forms.
This has a tendency to be a bit frustrating. BUT! I was fortunate enough to work with an art director who (unlike many art directors) was A DAMN GOOD PAINTER. A 'Master' painter. Believe me, You would know him if I told you who he was.
And while he was able to paint his tuckus off with realistic beautiful technique illustrations, when the time came to do a cartoony stylized design ( Ala disney-for disney ), He couldn't do it!
It just wouldn't klik for him. He is quite an egotistical jack ass and He saw what I was doing with the character and the reaction that it was getting, felt insecure and wanted to try and show me up. When he sat down and struggled with it--struggled HARD, yet couldn't do it. He got frustrated and left the room. I saw what he had done on his pad, and it was just awful.
NOW! To be fair to him, Its not what he spent his life honing in on. It was alien to him. His thing was realistic painting-That's where he devoted his focus on.
IF he devoted the time to it,(cartoon design) could he do it? Sure. IF he devoted the time and was passionate about it, and could get over his ego.

Which brings me back to this point. If you want to draw, just pick up the pencil and DO it.
Don't let anyone tell you that you "cant"...... ESPECIALLY you.
When someone speaks to you about 'talent', It is their way of saying that "you can't", and keeping you at some mysterious arms length. They speak of 'talent' out of vanity.
When YOU say that you "can't", You do so out of laziness.

post coming tomorrow...

In fact,,I might just switch it from sunday to monday. It is my slow day, And much easier for me..
See ya on the monday!

"ALEC BALDWIN IS A DICK"

"Hey I wanna tell you something okay, and I wanna leave a message for you right now because again its 10:30 here in New York on a Wednesday and once again I've made an ass of myself trying to get to a phone to call you at a specific time. When the time comes for me to make the phone call I stop whatever I'm doing and I go and I make that phone call at eleven-o-clock in the morning in New York and if you don't pick up the phone at ten-o-clock at night and you don't even have that god damn phone turned on. I want you to know something okay, I'm tired of playing this game with you. I'm leaving this message with you to tell you, you have insulted me for the last time. You have insulted me, you don’t have the brains or the decency as a human being, I don't give a damn if you're 12-years-old, or 11-years-old, or that you're a child, or that your mother is a thoughtless pain in the ass, who doesn't care about what you do as far as I'm concerned, you have humiliated me for the last time with this phone, and when I come out there next week, I'm gonna fly out there for the day just to straighten you out on this issue, I'm gonna let you know just how disappointed in you I am and how angry I am with you that you've done this to me again. You have made me feel like shit and you have made me feel like a fool over and over and over again, and this crap you pull on me with this god damn phone situation that you would never dream of doing to your mother and you do it to me constantly, and over and over again. I am gonna get on a plane or I am gonna come out there for the day and I'm gonna straighten your ass out when I see you, do you understand me? I'm gonna really make sure you get it. Then I'm gonna get on a plane and I'm gonna turn around and I'm gonna come home. So you better be ready Friday, the 20th, to meet with me so I'm gonna let you know just how I feel about what a rude little pig you really are. You are a rude thoughtless little pig, okay."

Well, that's non other than alec baldwin, thespian extraordinaire! And hes leaving a phone message for his daughter....His 11YEAR OLD DAUGHTER. Now...I'm sure that all of you have heard this by now, Its really come down on poor ole alec. Every day and Every night people talking about alec. Poor, poor alec.
Now its been said that the reason al(ick) and kim bassinger ended up getting divorced is because alec, a democrat has a terrible problem controlling his anger. Alec, a democrat, and like most democrats--is a very emotional individual. delving very heavily into the emotional and barely dipping his toe into the abstract notion of THOUGHT. And really...this is a great example of this.
Think about it, if you were an angry hot head, and chances are you have yelled at your daughter repeatedly, belittling her, tearing her down, and causing emotional damage to her....wouldn't you THINK that by leaving a message like this on your daughters phone---your daughter who probably HATES you, that this MIGHT, just MIGHT get leaked by someone???
Well..if you were a thinking man and not an emotionally unstable man, such as alec, a democrat, obviously is.
I hope he at least took comfort in the fact that none other than rosie o'donnell, another democrat, stood up for him.
Pretty much saying something to the extent that he was just having a bad day. "who HASN'T said something like that to their children".
Ummmmm....rosie...my dear, stupid rosie...I'm pretty sure that I have never called my child a 'rude little thoughtless pig". Nope, not once. Something tells me that alec, a democrat, has done it several times.

Poor kid. I only hope that her Mother, while a 'peta' member-therefore a democrat...isn't AS insane or AS idiotic as alec is. One can only hope that the kid realizes that her parents (democrats) are morons and goes the OTHER way.

Oh yeah..I don't usually write titles like the one above. In fact, I saw that on another site...but for the life of me...couldn't come up with one that fits BETTER!

OK!!!

SO I'M THREE DAYS LATE!!! Gimme a friggin break! What can I say, I'm biddy!
Anyway, I have a bit of a revelation to tell you about. Not all that long ago, I gave some story nerds, I mean friends a really, really hard time about their stupid art blogs. Of which I said that their 'art blogs' were nothing more than petting zoo's. Where they weren't really interested in a serious comment/crit type of thing. Which is totally fine as long as your honest about it. Well...that was my opinion.Nothing more nothing less.
Recently I've been talking to some comic book pals who have 'art blogs' as well. And they're good art blogs too! But I asked them why they do it. Telling them about my conversations/arguments with and about them(art blogs).

Some of them did say that its just for sh*ts n giggles. Which falls into that realm of being honest about it. And again---fine.

But most of them said some thing along the lines of "yeah...Its just fun. BUT it also serves as a networking type of thing. Where they can not only place finished stuff up, but also rough sketch and commission work. What makes this different than what the story goons are doing is that unlike their blogs, its not just a showoff type of ego stroke (although the honest ones say that that is a side benefit), ---but they also SELL what is on their blogs. Its like a cafe press type of thing. It also serves as a side portfolio where some even said that they have received comic gigs and illustration gigs from it when a publisher or art director See's the work.

The story goons aren't really ever going to sell the story boards. To be fair, Their not meant for that. And the animation industry is so incestuous that It really isn't going be a big boost to have one IF your hope is to for more gigs.
So...It IS just to be stroked by your buddies. Again,,,nothing wrong with that if your honest about it.

So after hearing that...It made me feel better about the whole 'art blog' thing. Even made me feel like I was too hard on the story sketch people.
Although I still think that the comic guys reasons are more noble and much more worthwhile in having one, than to just be stroked.

So that said, believe it or not...It does make me feel more comfortable with them. Still not sure if I WANT one...but who knows?

THANKS FREDDIE AND JIM!

I'm tired and I'm going to have some coffee.
Yeah you read that right.

Look for next post on Sunday.

I was checkin out some of my bloggy co-horts, and found a very touching, very eloquent tribute to a hero of a story guy--who had just passed. I thought that I would pass it on to you.


""This is a bad week for my heroes. First Johnny Hart, and now Don Ho. He died yesterday. He was 84. Ho was one of my all time favorite writers. Famous for blending science fiction and comedy, he was, hands down, the funniest writer I ever read, and was a huge influence on they way I write comedy. If you are unfamiliar with Ho, I'd recommend "SlaughterHouse 5"(mentioned in "Footloose!) and then move on to "Breakfast of Champions". "Bluebeard" is the best of his later novels.
When I was a kid, I used to go to the grocerey store with my mother and spend all of my time in the magazine and book section. There, they would have a buch of those little cheap pocket paperbacks. This is where my early cartooning education began.
It's interesting to see how his style of drawing and writing progressed.
I have this to say......He did what he plaesed. He stood up for what he believed in.
I may not have agreed with how he expressed his beliefs in his work, but I do adimire the courage with which he did.
He was one of the great ones.
Rest in Peace, sir.
-John
Go check him out. If you like this strip, you'll like his stuff too.
Better late than never.
Hi-de ho.
(Read "Slapstick" .You'll get it)
-John"""

Indeed. Well spoken.
As the man himself spoke:

""Tiny bubbles
Make me warm all over
With a feelin' that
I'm gonna love you till the end of time

Hua li'i
I ka waina
Au hau'oli
I ka wa au inu

Hua 'li'i
Wau haawi hoihoi
A i'ini nui i ka wa au
Nana ia oe

Au kuuipo
I nu ho'omahalo ka'ua
I ko ka'ua aloha mau loa""

Read slaughter house five. You'll get it.
Inspiring, truly inspiring.

UPKEEP

If by chance you are up working at two am (this leaves out any and all storypeople), gnoshing on a bag of beef jerky (maybe even your second bag), and you find yourself in need of something to dig the hunk of dried beef out from behind your back teeth, and a toothpick nowhere in sight.
Let me recommend a "Staedtler" mechanical pencil with a 'F' lead. Not too soft and not too hard. finely sharpened to just the right point. Do it up reaaaaaaaaaaaal naaaaaaaahhhhce for ya.
Now I just need to find something to dislodge the lead shard in my upper gum.

(scissors, no. pen nub....no. exacto?????hmmmmm.)

IMUS

Ok.
Don Imus.
Well, I just thought I'd say a few words about this.
Nothing I like better than to see one of those rare occasions when a leftist gets eatin' by other leftists.
But I can not believe how much this has taken over the attention of this country. what does it say when what takes our attention off of ridiculous story #1 (Anna Nicole smith) is another ridiculous story by the name of 'don Imus'.
Now I believe that every one in this country has heard that don Imus on the 5Th made a comment about the Rutgers basketball team and called them (ahem) "nappy headed hoes".
Now before any of you say Oh Handel your a bigot! Your a bigot, how could you call the biggest of all media stories, "RIDICULOUS"!?!? Let me tell you why I say that it is not only 'ridiculous', but also very much.... a 'non story'.

Was the comment bad? Yes. Was it terrible, reprehensible even morbidly ignorant? Sure. Was it the first time that these words spilled out of the mouth of some dumb ass? No.
I would even go out on a limb and say that our race hustlers by the names of sharpton and jackson even own a few Cd's that have 'ludicrous' and other 'rappers' saying those words and much much worse. Maybe even some of the Rutgers players themselves own such Cd's? Possibly?
That is one of the things that irritates me I suppose. HERE COMES JESSE AND AL--to the rescue! Where were they before Imus said these words? Have they never heard a 'ludicrous' "song"? Or snoop doggy douche? Or any other 'mainstream' rapper? Why were they silent about all of the past 15 years worth of filth?
But that's just the tip of the ice berg really. There is sooo much anger. So much over the top outrage. at what? three words. Three words...."nappy.....headed.....hoe's".
Is THIS the most devastating thing to hit the black community in 50 years? Judging from the outcry and anger displayed this week, you would certainly think so! A comment made by a leftist radio dork about a college basketball team.
Right.
Why doesn't the rev al (which church?) and rev jackson (which church?) make a grand statement about the rap industry? Which use terms about women that make 'nappy head hoes" look tame in comparison. Well that would mean that they would have to take a real stand. And that would take courage and guts. And truth. And they wouldn't be welcome in those hip circles any more. They couldn't go to all the cool parties. They wouldn't be able to "KICKIT". (word).

That would take real effort after all, and its far easier to get everyone charged up on this phoney story. And lets face it, al and jesse don't really care about fixing the REAL problems. It would mean that they would be out of a job if they fixed the real problems. Far better to have everyone continue to feel that they are a victim and therefore in NEED of 'brotha jesse', and 'brotha al'. They are the equivalent of the blacks who sold blacks into slavery --in the past and in present day.
al and jesse. YOU are the same. You have done nothing but harm blacks, and I have nothing but contempt for you.
IF this outrage over ('nappy headed hoe's) is truly sincere, then jackson should show leadership and should step down..from what EVER position he holds for the remark about "going to hymie town", and then denying the remarks. Then accusing Jews of conspiring to defeat him in an election.
Sickening.
Or what about the fact that jackson had said that he backs the stripper in the Duke lacrosse rape allegation and offered a scholarship to the woman who lied and libeled the players. Did jackson apologize for THAT? Ummmm nope.
As for the clown known as sharpton. 'Tawana Brawley'? Anyone? No? Yes? Google that one. Its a hoot. Or the 'Crown Heights Riot', or the "Freddies Fashion Mart" incident.
These two idiots are a cancer. They've done more to harm the black community than anyone else in a looooooong time.

But no...Its the term 'nappy headed hoes' that is the big obstacle for the black community today.

Funny. I thought it was these poser rappers with their filth, and not to mention the:

* almost 50 % dropout rate for blacks.
* 60% of black children grow up in fatherless homes
* 790,000 black men are in jail or prison.
* 70% of black babies are born to unwed mothers.
* 320,000 black babies are aborted annually.
* And lets throw in Blacks account for more than half of new AIDS cases.

(now THAT'S a REAL inconvenient truth)

Step up to the plate rev's. Admit what the problems are rather than exploiting them. Help people, rather than taking advantage of them. It's the difference between being an adult and being a child.
Being a MAN,

Or being.............a 'boy'.
(word)

LIGHTEN UP!

Ok.
Too much talk about da-passed on here lately.
Starting to feel like some old geezer sitting on the couch that reads the obits all day-- sayin':
""Hey Winifred, Chester doobkins died ta-day! poor bastuurd! Looked like hell the last time I saw im'."

So---No more dyin' out there.
Gots to talk about some different stuff. More politics, More current events, An admission and a revelation, animation, comics, illustration, and some satire.

And I'm going to try..( I say this hesitantly...) to do a post on a Sunday- EVERY Sunday.
THAT'S RIGHT. Part of my revelation really. After talking to some of my comic and illustration palies, I thought I might take a crack at this on a more "regular" basis.
Even if that means that once in awhile I pop on one Sunday to say that there isn't a damn thing to say. I still will make a post. (or try to- Unless of course I'm abducted by any attractive and smart story people...And we all know that there's no such thing SOOOOOOOO...I have no excuses really.)

Now if I'm going to do this, Its going to be more a fly by the seat of my pantalooonies. Which means less time on spellcheck. So expect ALOT of mispellings. Very much like 'countsys' blog but with more clever insight from a far more attractive individual with better hair. And in some cases...more hair.

Talkin to you laters, and see you on the Sunday.

'B.C.' cartoonist Johnny Hart dies at 76

JOHNNY HART

(February 18, 1931- April 7, 2007)


ALBANY, N.Y. - For millions of comic strip readers, the prehistoric era was a hoot: Cavemen played baseball, ants went to school, birds rode on the back of turtles and snakes made quips.

All of it was thanks to cartoonist Johnny Hart, who died Saturday at age 76 while working at his home in the nearby hamlet of Nineveh. "He had a stroke," his wife, Bobby, said Sunday. "He died at his storyboard."

Hart's "B.C." strip was launched in 1958 and eventually appeared in more than 1,300 newspapers with an audience of 100 million, according to Creators Syndicate Inc., which distributes it.

"He was generally regarded as one of the best cartoonists we've ever had," Hart's friend Mell Lazarus, creator of the "Momma" and "Miss Peach" comic strips, said from his California home. "He was totally original. 'B.C' broke ground and led the way for a number of imitators, none of which ever came close."
Hart, who also co-created "The Wizard of Id," won numerous awards for his work, including the National Cartoonist Society's prestigious Reuben Award for Cartoonist of the Year and an award from the International Congress of Comics.

Later in his career, some of Hart's cartoons had religious themes, a reflection of his own Christian faith. That sometimes led to controversy.

"B.C." was filled with puns and sly digs at modern society. One recent strip showed an ant teacher asking her class, "Who can tell me what secondhand smoke is?" One pupil raised his hand with an answer: "A political speech made by a vice presidential candidate."

Besides his wife, Hart is survived by two daughters, Patti and Perri. He was a native of Endicott, about 135 miles northwest of New York City, and drew his comic strip at a studio in his home in Nineveh until the day he died.

Johnny Hart....One of the best.

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!

A SALUTE

For those of you out there that know me, know that what I value more than anything at all: Is FAMILY.

I adore it, cherish it, bask in it.
I recently read a eulogy from someones wife about his father. "Ulpiano", who passed away on March 16, at the age of 82.
The eulogy spoke of a good man, a passionate man. A man who was filled with a huge love. A love for his family.
A man that even in hard times, be it in the separation of him from his wife as he waited for the slow immigration process to work,
or the hard times of being in bed due to illness, how he longed to have his family near him. Warmed himself in the light of their love.
A man that served, and worked hard at his job and did it to the very best of his ability for a wife of 54 years, with 7 children, 16 grandchildren, and
6 great-grandchildren.

There's a word for that folks.

Success.

I tip my hat to you "Ulpiano". I tip my hat to you for knowing what your priorities in life are. Not many people do these days. I tip my hat to you for your deep and passionate love for your family.
I tip my hat to you for being an inspiration BECAUSE of that love.
I don't know you, I've never even heard of you before today. But I know a little about your story. Its similar to others that I know, others that have true happiness and joy due to the love of and for family.
I wish that I HAD met you at some point. Because your the type that inspire me. The kind that remind me of those most important of priorities.

To remind me of what I'm shooting for.
Not the next animated scene to get done in order to wow the audience.
Not the next painting or drawing or design.
Not the next illustration to get the next pat on the back...

Instead, to try with all my heart to be a great man,
So that I may be that great Husband.
To be that great Daddy.....
To be that cornerstone so that I too, may leave a great legacy.....In the form of... my Family.


"Ulpiano"....Godspeed.

Elizabeth

About a week ago, the news came out that democrat and presidential hopeful (God forbid), john edwards was going to have a news conference about his wife’s health.

His wife Elizabeth has had a recurrence of cancer.

Now I can’t stand john edwards, I think he is as horrid a person as a trial lawyer is capable of being. And that’s pretty horrid. But I feel for them. I do. I remember being in an argument/debate with a guy. He had made a comment in a blog entry wishing cancer on a Republican (cant remember who exactly-but a conservative all the same.).When I cornered him and properly spanked him about that, telling him that I thought it was a juvenile thing to wish that on any human being. He got a lil whiney and wished prostate cancer on me.

nice, huh. But...very typical of the left.

When conservative commentator Laura Ingraham had HER bout with cancer, the leftist blogs were abuzz with hatred towards her, wishing her death. And wishing it quickly.

Nasty post after nasty post.

To be fair, the right...MY side has its nutter butters as well. But no where near what the left has. I checked the blogs and forums to see what the right was saying about Elizabeth Edwards’s story.

What I saw was a lot of well wishes, and prayers for her and her family. Nary a nasty post. Nary a hateful word toward her.

Its just another difference between the two parties. One party grounds itself (or tries with all its might) in values, rooted in their faith. Accountable to a higher being, to live their lives in the shadow of God.

The other party, the party of the left, believes themselves to be 'humanists'. Living by the moral code of ..."as long as I live a good life and I'm a good person".

Ironically those 'humanists' are the ones who despise humanity the MOST.

Which is why they so enthusiastic choose to throw the people of Iraq to butchers. Or are indifferent to the life of a baby. Or look the other way to the massacres in Cambodia, and now Darfur.

Or... why it is so easy, to casually wish someone that you hate..... An incurable disease.

I said to this guy that I was arguing with, that I could never do that...for several reasons. Such as, that that person may be a Daddy, or a Mommy. Or a Precious Son, Or Precious Daughter.

They would be memories. They would be missed. And they would always be loved...even in absence.

So with that, I wish you well Elizabeth Edwards. You and your family. I WILL pray for you. I WILL pray for your husband.

I WILL pray for your CHILDREN.

AND THE WEINER IS???

Well as I predicted, al 'the bore' gore won an Oscar for his dreary 'we're all going to die' sci fi pic "an inconvenient truth".

Which is pretty much what a sci fi movie would be like if done by the weather channel. Boring special effects, dull acting, stiff actors and excruciating voice over work.

The comedic thing about this is that this fiction is and was passed off as non fiction, by true believers that have chosen to make 'environmentalism', their own stand in for a real religion.

YEPPERS! That’s what this is, my lil poots. It’s a pseudo religion. Set up by shallow people that are uncomfortable with any religion that has any standards, or believes in any sort of values.

Nope...better to worship a tree or a rock. And good ole al has set himself up as the high priest.

Now, this entry isn’t going to be a post about 'global warming', as I just don’t have the time for that at this point. Maybe later though. No, this is just going to be on the Oscars.

Now I didn’t watch the Oscars. I just did enough reading pre-Oscar to know that the 'stars' were all going to be showing up in 'hybrid' limos! And it was deemed as the 'green' Oscars!!! I mean crap-doodles, even the stupid and dark animated 'Happy Feet' (which is an enviro flick-duh.) got the Oscar for 'best' animated show.

The writing was on the wall. Of COURSE al gore was going to get the Oscar...........and he did.

And the weiner is???? AL GORE!

So the Tennessee testicle made his loafy self up to the mic. Exchanging googly eyes with leo dicaprio, who breathlessly spouted how much of a hero he (al) is! How much of an inspiration he (al) is!! ("HERO" + "INSPIRATION"= al? makes every bit as much sense as "RUGGED" + "MACHO" +"MANLY" = leo dicaprio. Or BETTER yet: "SEXY+HOT+ PRO AMERICAN BEAUTY= hillary clinton. Ummmmm.....no.)

ANYWAY! So al gets up there and gives his "You love me! You really, REALLY love me!" speech. A pretty lil diddy about how we can allllll make a difference if we just face reality and do our part.

All of the plastic people got up and cheered and applauded and wiped tears from there stretched eyes. Oh...so...so frickin beautiful!

It was only after the show was over that we were able to get a nice, fluffy looky loo at 'the real reality'. The plastic people abandoned their green 'hybrids' for their jets and zipped off to the parties or back to their homes. Al himself went back to his home, and word got out that al lives in not one, not TWO, but THREE HUUUUGE energy gobbling houses.
And al loves to travel! Boy Howdy does he?! Very much like his plastic Hollywood friends at the Oscars, He is quick to push aside his hybrid and jump on that jet to hopscotch around the globe to tell YOU to.....well, I guess NOT to jump on a jet and/or live in big houses.

I don’t know, I think ole al has stumbled on something here that he's taking advantage of. But in its essence, at its core, It IS liberalism at its most obvious.

NOT necessarily believing in anything, but saying ENOUGH and doing enough to make you feel better about yourself and make it look as if you do indeed give a damn. When you really don’t.

So al got himself a lil gold statue. To sum it all up?:

A bunch of losers in life came together and voted to give another loser, a loser award for a loser movie about a loser cause.

Doesn’t make you any bit closer to being a winner al, It just makes you.... well, the high priest of your own made up religion.

But still a loser.

At least it makes you feel good about yourself though. And really isn’t that what liberalism is all about?

ITS OSCAR TIME!!

Yes folks its ‘Oscar’ time! A time when the masses of the Self Important will all gather together and clamor for these little statues called 'Oscars' for validation of a job well done. That moment when fellow actors and directors and the like, get all dolled up and jump into their fancy and yes expensive cars, and on to a gala event where other entertainment snobs get together to celebrate the very 'BEST' of entertainment for that year. (Or so they would have you believe).

What’s interesting is that most of these films are either very mediocre or performed very poorly at the box office.

The pictures up for "BEST PICTURE" are ok choices I suppose. But were they the best? And who decides WHICH films are the ‘best’?

Well...The academy of course!! And who is the "academy"? Well anyone of importance, don’t you know! Directors, actors, screenwriters, producers, critics and the people that know a thing or two about creating a great movie. The problem is that...well...they rarely do.

Yes. The academy jury is overseen by itself. Now you tell me, what criminal wouldn’t want to judge itself?

So how are the awards picked for nominations? How are they chosen for the awards?

Are they chosen for the box office return?

No.

Are they chosen because they truly ARE the very best of the year? That must be it! Yes?

No.

Often times, really more often than not, they are chosen for awards in the very same way that the studio heads and chiefs choose what films are to be MADE.

And that is based on what they can talk about at their hollywood cocktail parties. Or as they hobnob amongst themselves at whatever event.

What is chosen are often times movies that are in the 'bio pick' realm. Or the melodrama. Or the down right over the top political message. (the more leftist the message the more chance you HAVE for an Oscar--Keep that in mind if you are a new filmmaker, cutting your teeth on a cal-art student film).

For an award, it DOES NOT need to be a film that is a 'moneymaker'. Nope. Or even a success on any level. What they want is the social scene conversation maker. Something that they can open a conversation with:

""""Yes..I am SO going to make a movie about blah blah, because it is something that I think really, REALLY must be brought to the attention of society... """ Cut to adoring socialite crowd sipping their $600.00 champagne, "oooo'ing" and "ahhh'ing" about how deep he/she is.

Now I know that some of my hollywood pals/drones/cogs, are saying "oh Handel, Your such a dickweed. How can you say that 'bank-ability' has nothing to do with the choices of what is made and what isn’t?"

Well. We’ve had this conversation before, So let me sum it up. Out of allllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll the movies out this year, And there has been a crap load. (And I use that term quite literally).

But when you look at the box office returns for the year. Seven (7) out of the ten top moneymakers are either 'family fare' or 'family friendly' movies. But when you line them up against the throngs of more adult nature films, compare the numbers of how many movies are made on each genre, They (family friendly) -are dwarfed by comparison.

NOW.....IF it were that Hollywood wanted to make more MONEY, wouldn’t it make sense that you would have more family films or films geared toward that specific audience?

Well obviously yeah. IF it were about 'Entertainment'. And successfully entertaining an audience.

But it isn’t.

Which goes back to my original point? It is more about bragging rights on the social scene, than having a film that is successful AND well done.

I mean really, Is "million dollar baby" MORE entertaining than Brad Birds "The INCREDIBLES",

Is Clint Eastwood any better a director than Brad Bird? I would argue that Brad Bird could do a film like ‘million dollar baby’ much easier than squinty clinty could do a film such as the "INCREDIBLES".

But instead, the 'animated' film/family film is thrown a bone and given its own category as "best animated film". “””"NO...you must not sit with us here dah'link, you go sit at the kiddies table””".

Even though the "INCREDIBLES" beat 'baby' by a mere 16O MILLION (aprox).

And "Spiderman" beat it by 273 MILLION!

And that is the way it is year after year with family friendly movies beating out others profit wise taking 5-8 slots of the top ten -----EVERY single year.

It aint bouts' the money honey. It taint bouts' the money. It’s about Street cred, or latte cred (this IS hollywood after all).

So when you are watching the awards tonight, (of which I never do--save for once; 1991; to see "Beauty and the Beast” rightfully get nominated and read aloud. Knowing it would never win. But it was fun to watch diseases such as barbara streisand wince in their seats when a ‘cartoon’ was named).

....when watching tonight, keep this in mind:

These are the mediocre, showing up to award the mediocre, FOR the mediocre.

The empty rewarding the empty.. For the worthless.

You want further proof? Let’s see if al gore gets an award tonight. Ya wanna bet? huh? Do ya?

HA!

THIS IS A NO-NO!

OK...At risk of being labled an ass. And I will undoubtably be called an ass for doing so...Let me point out (because no one that I saw on that particular bloggy HAS). The above image is wrong.
WRONG WRONG WRONG. The squirrel is slapping at the monkey upwards. And the monkeys head is going the OPPOSITE way from the swing. This thing happens when people get to drawing to quickly and forget that there are certain laws that still must apply when drawing action scenes.(even scenes with monkeys and squirrels).
Even if you say "well kongs chin was facing opposite of the squirrels left shoulder"!
Well..that isnt seen and it doesnt matter because it still FEELS wrong.

Again...happens to the best of us. Just catch it and fix it when it does..and more importantly, keep it in mind so it doesnt happen again. Because chances are.....your dumbass pals arent going to tell you. And that matters, especially if the name of the game is to "continue learning". (as it should be).