Coup d'etat

I took my cartooning student Dawson to meet Mad Magazine's Tom Richmond at the Charles Schulz Museum this weekend. Jeannie Schulz then took us back to the actual studio where Peanuts was drawn for decades. Look who's taking over.

This week's caption contest

The real Narelle

I recently found this picture of the burial of "Queen Narelle" in 1895. She was the wife of Umbarra, leader of the Yuin tribe of aborigines in SE Australia. Three years later my grandmother, who grew up nearby hearing legends about her, decided to adopt her name "as a talisman". Molly Ryan (Callaghan) divorced and became Marie Narelle and went on to world fame as a soprano (The Queen of Irish Song). My father adopted her stage name and the rest, as they say, is history.

Umbarra, who lived on Merriman Island, was also known as King Merriman. He outlived his wife.

My grandmother died in England in 1941 after a successful international career that include nine years under contract recording with Thomas Edison. 

 
I am proud of the fact that my grandmother was singing out against racism and injustice a hundred years ago. No wonder I wound up with a black woman's name.

National Day of Unplugging

I am excited to hear about tomorrow's National Day of Unplugging. It follows closely on the heels of my new tablet invention, the iMactuallyhere. Devoid of battery issues, sporting remarkable clarity and affording the most natural of "friending" possibilities (sticking your arm through it and shaking hands), the iMactuallyhere has the potential of a very long shelf life compared to every other device on the market.

Climate oddness

In June we had winter weather (rain, wind and cold). In January we have summer weather (dry, calm and pleasant). Running barefoot at Stinson beach with a glassy calm ocean. I don't know about climate change but I'm certainly becoming familiar with climate oddness.

This week's caption

Sad day in Tennessee

Tarra the elephant at The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee just lost her best friend Bella, the dog. It looks like the work of coyotes. It appears that Tarra picked up her lifeless body and carried it back to the sanctuary headquarters. A while back when Bella was ill and cooped up in the office for two weeks Tarra stood nearby at the fence and refused to go anywhere without her buddy.

In addition to all the pro bono cartooning I've done for the sanctuary over the years whenever there was a problem, I was thrilled and honored a few years ago when Carol Buckley, the founder, commissioned me to do a special color illustration of Tarra and Bella together. Though I never got to meet them in person I've always felt a special bond with this devoted pair.

This week's caption

I started submitting captions in the local paper's contest several months ago. This week's winner is number eight for me....and, it totally surprised me in the paper on my birthday. A double whammie.

My THINKAFEELADOO comic, a mental health primer for young children is now available online. http://www.thinkafeeladoo.blogspot.com/  My hope is to find a publisher and/or backing to create a whole series of comic/workbooks for therapists, parents and teachers to use with kids. Volume One is already in use by top therapists working with abused kids.

AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE ONLINE

Caption Contest

While I have never penetrated the hallowed halls of the New Yorker, I have scored six times in the local paper's Cartoon Caption Contest. My lastest....

Temple Grandin

I met Temple Grandin today and got to thank her for inspiring me to train KT, a rambunctious golden who's greetings could knock you over. I taught KT to go between my legs where I would put the squeeze on her with my knees, which calmed her down immediately. After a short scratch on the butt I give her a tap and she runs off to keep playing. I told Temple that without what I've learned from her I would have been knocked over a hundred times by now.

Time to vote!

It's time to vote in the Union of Concerned Scientist's political cartoon. Click on the link above to view all twelve candidates. Mine is number one. (That is both literally true and a semi-subliminal plug). This could be the year I earn the coveted cover position. It's all up to you. No pressure.....

               CLICK HERE TO VIEW CARTOONS AND VOTE

Living In Vertical Time goes digital

CLICK HERE TO CHECK IT OUT IN THE iTUNES STORE

I'm still reading books by turning paper pages of like a troglodyte. For those of you actually living in the 21st Century I am pleased to report that my book is now available paperlessly through the iTunes iBookstore. Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to go rub a few sticks together and make a fire.

Choked up

Going to my first horror film festival in Kentucky proved to be a very moving experience as you can see by how choked up I got.

I even met some relatively normal people there such as young Addy Miller who played the younger version of Dakota Fanning in The Secret Life of Bees. Addy is a sweetie.

Photo credits: James R. Zorn  jameszorn@gmail.com

Grandma

Every now and then a family treasure pops up. This poster of my grandmother, the Queen of Irish Song, is one of them. She's wearing the Brooch of Tara given to her by the mayor of Dublin around 1902. Being born long after she was gone it is sweet to collect bits of history such as this.

The horror...the horror

Robin and I survived the crippling heat and humidity of Kentucky as well as the Fright Night Film Fest where I was a celebrity guest, signing Dark Star posters and the like.

Along the way I got to show off my nine year old student Dawson's mummy shirt. I fit right in.

Robin's coming along on this adventure adding to everyone's enjoyment, including her own. When we watched a skinny kid in a Darth Vader outfit shuffling through the lobby dejectedly we nearly wet our pants laughing. Just one of a thousand unique moments.

I drew a lot of cartoons for folks over the course of the three day festival. Eventually I realized I needed to draw one for myself. After all, a journey this long deserves documentation....From Sesame Street to Elm Street...

San Diego Comic Con

With the San Diego Comic Con getting under way I pause to appreciate the cartoon Sergio Aragones did for me in 1976 down there. It hangs over my desk, chastising me daily.

Last year's logo

I attended the county fair recently and came across a logo I created last year for their Wine Garden. It was designed for buttons and stickers. I was surprised to find it so big.

Upside down

I was teaching young Dawson about the anatomy of the eye today and how images are initially flipped upside down on the retina after passing through the lens and then rectified within the brain. He began staring at my head intently in order to invert it. You gotta be careful what you tell kids these days.

APPREHENDED!

View this photo at your own legal risk. I have just been apprehended by the Twentieth Century Fox Licensing & Merchandising Legal Department for violation of intellectual property. The owners of the dogs pictured already have their t-shirts. I hope they won't be hunted down as well. The irony in all this is that years ago when I was Supervising Animator and Sequence Director on TWICE UPON A TIME we brought a 19 year old on board as a camera assistant by the name of David Fincher. Now if I can only talk David into autographing my friend's t-shirts they'll be worth a fortune.