So that's where I am!

Empire, the British film magazine, answers the question WHERE ARE THEY NOW? The answer is, "right here typing this blog entry". This page is from the April 2011 issue and reviews the recently released DVD version of Dark Star that contains a massive amount of extras. Thanks to Volker Engel, Oscar winning FX genius behind Independence Day, for scanning this and sending it to me. (The April issue of Empire has yet to make it out here in the hinterlands yet)

My mummy shirt

Now I'm sporting my very own Dawson mummy shirt. This kid will probably have his own clothing empire by the time he's 10.

Deposed

Tyrannical cartoonist deposed by angry young mob. Okay. A mob of one. One nine year old. Okay, so my student Dawson is taking over my studio. I was forced to bow to international pressure.

 

 

Dawson's mummy

No matter what drawing task I give nine-year-old Dawson every week it always turns into some sort of zombie. He just can't help himself. This week's anatomy exercise emerged as a mummy. Just another day at the office.

The Blue Ball Caper

KT (in the background) seems to have lost track of her two favorite blue balls. She's apparently spotted a red one but knows damn well it's not hers. Where in the world could her balls have gone? Meanwhile Cassie seems to have abandoned her customary mouthful of four tennis balls in favor of....."Your Honor, I submit this photograph as Exhibit A for the prosecution."

So long Jack.

In the early 70s I worked for Computer Image in Los Angeles where I created a kids TV series pilot with Jack LaLanne called Fit & Fun Time. It combined live action (I directed Jack in front of blue screen at an LA TV station) combined with some of the first computer animation (which I directed in Denver, using a room full of enormous Honeywell tape bank computers).

Jack would come to meetings and give me a thump in the chest with the back of his hand and ask, "How ya doin, Boy Genius?" I rarely had enough wind left in me to answer.

Jack was the real deal. The guy was fit. One day at his house he had his maid give me a tour of his basement gym. She told me he worked out down there from 4AM to 6AM every morning. On some mornings she told me his pal Clint Eastwood would come over and they'd work out together.

Jack died today. He almost seemed immortal. He was a role model who never fell off his pedestal. It just gave out underneath him. So long Jack. Happy trails.

Latest book cover

This is my latest book cover for Steve Bhaerman (AKA Swami Beyondananda). For more Tomfoolery you can visit his website at www.wakeuplaughing.com (At your own risk!)

Havana cemetery

After seeing cousin Evin's recent photo tour of a Parisian cemetery I wanted to share some of my photos from last year's trip to Havana. I believe their cemetery is the seventh largest in the world. I found this first photo to be one of the most touching I've ever seen at a grave. One could wander this cemetery for hours. The photo with me in it is at the grave site of Ibrahim Ferrer (of Buena Vista Social Club fame). This full size Pieta is one of two to be found there.

Happy Moo Year

We ushered in the new year at  the home of the great-great-granddaughter of Mrs. O'Leary, whose cow is purported to have burned down Chicago. (I hate it when that happens) This cartoon is now part of their family legacy.

That beard tickles!

Warren had a long naughty-or-nice conversation with Santa this year. It all turned out okay but next year he plans to bring a lawyer with him.

If you live in the Sonoma County area and need photography go to russelleventphotography.com.

Super fan Parker

When two year old Parker's grandma told us she demands to see video of "talking dog" every day it meant we needed to travel out to Jenner to catch up with her while she was visiting from Seattle. She and Warren Peace (AKA Talking Dog) had a great time together. She even gave Warren two sticky stars on his nose. What more do you want?

Summer's farewell

The soft light of morning in the trees is a real gift and helps assuage the knowledge that the last of the warm weather is upon us. Soon the rains will come.

Oy Story 3

Help! Robin and I are being held captive at your local toy store. Please go purchase us and set us free. Meanwhile, prior to being kidnapped at Pixar today (where I'd taken a 9-year-old cartooning student to meet his future employers), Dawson and I sat down to ponder what we're both going to do when we grow up.

Doggie Dad for a Day

With his mom away I took Timmy (from down the street) to the dog park today. To say he had an hour of fun is to revel in gross understatement. Some day I hope the dogs all stand around chatting and the people spend an hour chasing each other through mud puddles.

Dark Star cartoon review

Yesterday I met Mark Monlux, a cartoonist who does cartoon reviews of obscure films (such as Dark Star). His book is a lot of fun, touching on many a film I've never heard of. He also does an online series with his STICKMAN character. You can download a template from his site and contribute your own Stickman comic which he distributes in cyberspace.  Several of my contributions live on in his archives. Check out www.thecomiccritic.com

A new friend

Baba Monkey is happy to report he has a new friend. Roberto showed up at a yard sale today and I quickly filled out the appropriate simian adoption papers. Now the two of them are over in the corner plotting God knows what. (As if I didn't have enough monkeys running around in my mind!)

Morning ritual

My morning ritual, which includes full-canine-immersion,  was captured on the cover of the local paper this week (The Community Voice) with this photo. Last week's paper had a lengthy article about me, as well as my buddy Cassie (seen here nibbling from my hand), and the fact that my photo of her won a Hallmark greeting card contest. The reporter was so impressed by the joyful canine scene at the park that they came back and did a whole story on our Best Friends Canine Club. This morning, typically, I was assaulted for no less than four tummy rubs moments after I came through the gate. They have me well trained.

Simmering Man

I've never been to Burning Man but today's Handcar Regatta in Santa Rosa was a circus of moving sculpture and and sea of bizarrely dressed people. I almost felt like I'd fallen into Pepperland. A magical afternoon.

Bucket-0-Beasties

At every yard sale I go to I keep an eye out for good animal models for my cartooning classes at the Schulz Museum. Today I scored this fabulous array of critters, including an inordinate number of insects (for $2). Hooray!

DJ dog

Warren had a great time co-hosting Berdalee's radio show this evening on KGGV in Guerneville CA. There were tons of dog related songs as well as Warren's canine poetry. To see more visit Warren's blog. Link is to the right.

Who let the dog out?

Warren had the privilege of opening for Teresa Tudury in Jenner at their celebration of preserving their watershed from the clutches of lumberjacks. It was a great community effort and the celebration was an equally great community celebration. In addition to performing with Warren I also designed the poster for the event.

Thinkafeeladoo - Take 2

I've launched a new version of my proposal, limited to the first introductory comic to help kids understand and work with Cognitive Behavior Therapy in their recovery from trauma by helping them understand the relationship between their thoughts, feelings and behavior. Please visit my proposal on Kickstarter.com and consider making a pledge to help create a new ally for kids who could really use one.
                                                       CLICK HERE TO VIEW PROPOSAL

Cartoon Safari 2010

I survived yet another Cartoon Safari cartooning class at the Schulz Museum, herding a pack of rascals. This photo pretty much sums up reality in there. It's one of the few classes kids will probably ever take where you can get in trouble for not being silly.

2001 A Space Oddity

Yard sales are the greatest. I scored these three guys yesterday and now I'm sure Stanley Kubrick is rolling over in his grave. Actually it's almost a family portrait, given that I starred in a space movie and my wife had a TV show where she played the mother of two chimps.

Minimalism

One of my very talented young cartooning students at the Schulz Museum this week seemed to enter a trance when it came time for a comic strip assignment. I kept coming back to glance at his blank paper until I finally saw the horrific fight going on between two polar bears in a snow storm. My excitement drew the other students over to see for themselves. Some of them claimed to only see a blank paper. Not me. I had Dawson title his strip, which he did proudly. It's one of my favorites.

Well trained

Just another morning of canine bliss as Cassie and KT demonstrate the care and handling of the well trained human. After this I think they were scheduled for a mud bath and a facial.

Oil's well that ends well

Recent reports indicate that the rate of oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico is the equivalent of an Exxon Valdez spill every four days. As we enter day 67...well, you'll see I did the math.

The old man and the sea and me

This is the entrance to the harbor of the fishing village of Cojiba, just east of Havana. From here Hemingway's old man rowed out to sea and eventually returned. Ever since January's Cuban tour (Snoopy Goes to Cuba) of American cartoonists I have kept an eye out for a copy of The Old Man And The Sea. I found one recently, weeks after the BP oil eruption in the Gulf of Mexico.

As if the images on TV weren't disheartening enough, vicariously rowing out into the Gulf Stream with this old man and spending days at sea took me back to my time as a diver in Miami and the Bahamas. I'd all but forgotten the haunting deep blue of the Gulf Stream and the sparkling turquoise of Bahamian waters. I was jolted back to the day we stopped engines on our dive boat in the middle of the Gulf Stream to deal with a problem en route to the island of Bimini where we had a second dive shop. While drifting silently over the deep dark waters a huge sailfish swam alongside us, his full sail airborne and his large yellow eye taking us in from a mere 20 feet away. I am ashamed to admit that I looked around for a spear gun. In my mind these magnificent creatures only "lived" on the walls of bars and hunting lodges. My first instinct was to kill it. I still shake my head at the memory and am glad I had no weapons at hand.

Meanwhile, the old man, far at sea, reveres that which he intends to kill. He reads the sea, the fish and the birds as we would read a map. He is so connected to that cycle of life and death that he is resigned to either outcome himself. He is nothing if not committed.

Against this backdrop I absorb the daily news of ever increasing disaster as the oil permeates more and more of the Gulf. They predict the currents will draw it towards the Keys and up the East Coast. No one ever mentions Cuba in all this. No one points out that the fishermen of Cojiba may be totally screwed too. Thanks for Ernest I am painfully aware of it. It makes me want to go to La Bodeguita Del Medio in Old Havana and get blindingly drunk on mojitos. At least once. Just for Hemingway's sake.

New BP logo

The Redcoats are coming (again)!

Gulf oil spill?

Can we please stop referring to this tragic unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico as a spill? If I’m carrying a glass of milk in my hand and I trip, that’s a spill. If a tanker in Alaska ruptures and dumps all its oil in the water that’s a spill. This is an oil hemorrhage of the first order worthy of its own name, as they do with hurricanes. I suggest calling it David for Deepwater Avoidable Volcanic Industrial Disaster.

Remembering Murray

ODE TO A PLASTIC DONKEY

I don't care if it rains or freezes

Coz I got the critter that carried Jesus

Riding on the dashboard of my car

If you're in a hurry, you can pass

I'll just mosey with my favorite ass

Riding on the dashboard of my car

You can fret and you can worry

But I've got a saint who's soft and furry

Riding on the dashboard of my car

He's long gone but I do not fear

Coz in my heart he's always near

Riding on the dashboard of my car

Fundraising now!

I have launched a fund raising campaign in order to create a series of much needed educational cartoon coloring books to help young children in the process of recovering from sexual abuse and other traumas.
CLICK TO VIEW ONLINE PROPOSAL

Goldman Environment Prize

The antidote to Goldman Sachs is the Goldman Environmental Prize. I just attended the ceremony for the second time and it is always a moving experience to see heroic activists from every corner of the world acknowledged for  their work on behalf of the environment.

CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE GOLDMAN PRIZE SITE

Goldman Sachs and pillages

Given recent events in the news it seemed like a good time to dust off this political cartoon I did recently.

Buford's got a blog

 

CLICK HERE TO VISIT BUFORD'S BLOG

Buford just heard about the internet and he's not shy about sharing what's on his mind. Proceed at your own risk. 

Book debut

Karen Drucker, prolific singer/songwriter, just wrote her first book Let Go of the Shore, illustrated by yours truly. It's coming out party was a wonderful concert at Unity of Marin. Karen and her band rocked the house.

Visit  www.karendrucker.com/

Buford's loose!

Just when you thought it was safe to go to YouTube, Buford decides that it's time for his online debut, bringing common back into commentary. You can see for yourself if you have the nerve. Just don't blame me. I've never seen this guy in my life. Don't know him. I swear.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYbUQeFrB9s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5agHmKhfKg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNN2vk7FRvA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhBpZYF9N3M
                                                 

Warren's blog

Warren is stepping out on his own (give or take some rod controls, cleverly removed with Photoshop in the picture above). Nevertheless he does have his very own blog now which you can access using the link in the right hand border. Proceed at your own risk. I'm not entirely sure he's housebroken.

Cujo II

My little buddy KT, an adolescent golden retriever, was having a snarling good time this morning at the dog park play fighting with a young Bernese mountain dog. After I took this picture I thought to myself, "Be afraid. Be very afraid."

Beware cigar boxes!

Upon our recent return from Cuba (Snoopy Goes To Cuba Tour - 2010) one of us, who shall remain unnamed, attempted to bring three empty cigar boxes into the US in order to store pen and pencils. This grave threat was intercepted by US Customs officials and all three offending boxes were confiscated. I sleep better at night knowing those boxes aren't in the country, don't you? Meanwhile, recent revelations of FBI interrogations of visitors to Cuba got me wondering...then I saw the following article and it all become clear to me.

O'Bannon memorial

Last week there was a memorial as well as a special screening of two of Dan O'Bannon's films at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood. It was time to say goodbye to Dan, who died in December at the age of 63, and hello to some friends both old and new. Among them: Dan's son Adam and two classmates from USC Cinema (who I just came to learn served as my body doubles in Dark Star long ago), Bennett Tramer and Nick Castle.