Going to the dogs

My senior term paper in high school was about UFOs. It's taken me all this time to figure out why we see so few of them.

Yet another item available as cards, postcards, mugs, etc. in my online store. See link on the right.

Talking turkey to power

These postcards are available in my online store. I'm sure Nancy Pelosi has gotten some by now, but she could always use one more.

Beware the Talibank

We watched a documentary last night called MAXED OUT. It is must viewing. Who needs wacky terrorists crawling around in caves in Afganistan when you have an entire banking industry preying on the most vulnerable among us, including college students, to suck the very blood out of them via their wallets?

Watch out Hillary!

This campaign continues to gather momentum. My feeling is: with a President who's in the dog house we might as well put a dog in the White House. Hannah once licked the hand of a girl in a coma and brought her back to consciousness immediately. Show me one other candidate who can claim that! Let's get over our species bias and get out there and vote for Hannah.

Campaign going to the dogs

Hannah and Tigger are official Animal Assisted Therapy dogs. I've been visiting hospitals and psych wards with them for years. They improve the quality of life wherever they go. So I got to thinking yesterday...why not run them in the 2008 election on the Lickertarian ticket? Who knows? This might catch on. You can purchase their new campaign bumper sticker as well as a nifty coffee cup featuring the dynamic duo at my store www.cafepress.com/narelle. You can just click the link on the right side bar.
10% of profits will go to the Angel On A Leash program. Visit www.angelonaleash.com

New Promo Post Card

Hot off the press! A new post card to promote Robin and myself. My new career? Stamp licker.

Laying down on the job

Robin and I spent our sixth anniversary today laying down once again to help form the words IMPEACH and 4PEACE on the grass in Berkeley with 1000 other people for the benefit of cameramen in helicopters. It was a glorious day on a hill full of kites. It felt a bit like Pepper Land, give or take getting rid of a few Blue Meanies. We were joined by Cindy Sheehan and former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinny, shown here with Robin.

Please let me be wrong!

I would much prefer to say "I blew it with that one!" than to say "I told you so!" However, given the apparent insanity of this particular administration I just thought I'd try to get the jump on them and at least raise a little public awareness.

AXES OF WEEVIL

I finally figured out what this current war mongering is all about. I have a number of Axes of Weevil products available in my online store. Just click the link on the right and look in the Politics section.

On a wing and a prayer

Here's Gideon the penguin gettin' down in the latest installment of The Gnu Life.

Deja vu all over again

This image is a bumper sticker I made recently using a logo I created years ago. It's one of many items current available at my online store: www.cafepress.com/narelle
Yesterday Robin and I joined 1200 others near the Golden Gate Bridge to form the letters IMPEACH, REASON and TREASON on the grass of Crissy Field in San Francisco. You can view pictures at the following link: www.beachimpeach.org/photos-bi3.html Helicopters hovered overheard filming. It was a beautiful day but sadly reminiscent of similar events during the Vietnam War and Nixon era. As the song goes..."when will they ever learn?"

Stop that bus!

This GNU LIFE strip appeared this week in the church bulletin of the Center for Spiritual Living in Santa Rosa.

Raising a new generation

Yesterday was the 40th anniversary celebration of the Summer of Love in San Francisco. The weather was pristine in Golden Gate Park as 40,000 folks took a trip down memory lane.

Bedtime for Gonzo

Rummy, then Rove, now Gonzo. It certainly has the appearance of rats deserting a ship. The truth is that they've probably done the maximum damage they can. Time to exit, stage left. You can see more of my political cartoons at www.cartoonfreeamerica.com

Schulz Sketch-a-thon

I was one of twenty cartoonists holding court at the Charles Schulz Museum today in celebration of the museum's fifth anniversary. It was like a mini comicon. I met a ton of great folks. Jeannie Schulz treated us all to drinks and munchies at a nearby restaurant afterwards. Good fun. You could almost feel Snoopy dancing.

Jailbirds in New York Times

This cartoon adorned a half page ad calling for impeachment in the west coast edition of the New York Times on Thursday. It also appears, full page, in the SF Bay Guardian.

I made it!

I posted this cartoon back in April when I created it for a contest held by the Union of Concerned Scientists. I didn't make the top twelve that were voted on last week so I obviously didn't "win". However, the UCS just contacted me to request its inclusion in the calendar they're producing using the twelve finalists. A small version of my cartoon will appear as well. I guess I came in thirteenth. The calendar will go on sale in September.

Dark days in America

I don't think the Bush administration is shredding the Constitution. I just think they've written their own and are defending it to the death. John Kerry just solicitied online for a 30 second radio spot. Here is my submission that includes the newly modified Constitution.

We the people of the United States, in order to form a more profitable union, establish advantage, insure domestic unrest, undermine the common defense, subvert the general welfare and ensure the blessings of liberty to a select few and their wealthy heirs do ordain and establish this distorted Constitution of the United States of America.

Which Constitution are your representatives upholding?

It’s up to us to hold their feet to the fire.

Our founding fathers are counting on us!

New celestial body

Teenage cousin Mary Kate, down in Texas, recently participated in a basketball tournament playing on a team of home-schooled girls. Ironically, they never have the advantage of a home game. Nevertheless they went out and kicked butt. It inspired me to create a new celestial body and name it in MK's honor.

Toxic 4th of July

KEEP BREATHING!

Every year on July 4th (the day before Robin's birthday) our entire town fills with pyromaniacs. We usually escape in advance, but with both of us sick we stayed home. I taped up the inside of the doors in hopes of preventing the toxic stench from wafting in (the prevailing winds carry all the smoke on our street straight into our house). The tape job wasn't suffient. We were forced to run the gauntlet to get to a movie theater and breath fresh air until past midnight when it was safe to go home. The drive there was like a war zone, acrid smoke wafting everywhere. What a holiday. Get drunk and poison yourself. Very American. This morning Robin awoke to find this birthday card on the kitchen counter. We made it through another year.

Back from the jungle

I just wrapped up a five day Cartoon Safari at the Charles Schulz Museum, teaching 20 kids ranging from ages 6 to 11. It was a blast. An exhausting blast, but a blast nevertheless. Among other things, I had them draw many zany elephants and sign a card that I sent to the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee. These young artists are already having an impact in the world!

Anybody want a used war?

I just did this illustration for a book cover.

Does a bear sleep in the woods?

The last hoorah

Okay. So the Warriors lost to Utah and their season is over. Walter will survive as long as he's got baseball, Oprah and I Love Lucy reruns.

No more back seat driving!

Tomorrow morning I take the front seat, grab the control bar and receive my first flight lesson in a trike (a huge hang glider wing with two seats, three wheels and one engine). I've been working with Michael Globensky of Spirits Up (www.spiritsup.com) at Petaluma Airport where I provide ground instruction to aspiring Sport Pilots who want to buzz around in the sky with a motorcycle helmet on. Getting this hands-on experience will help me customize my curriculum and better understand what these students are up to. Up in the air Junior Birdmen!

The gnus of the day

Aaah, nuts!

I went to the San Francisco Zoo over the weekend to do some research for my strip and came upon this little prairie dog searching for some lost parts. Too cute for words. So I'll shut up now.

Welcoming Walter

Walter the turtle is the latest addition to THE GNU LIFE thanks to an interior journey and exterior walk yesterday under the sage guidance of Charles Tack. Will Walter ever come out of his shell? As long as he has HBO the odds don't look so good. Thank you Charles for leading me on this turtle hunt. Now, back to the jungle. I mean, the drawing board.

Pair of noids

Sunny side down

Gideon seems to be having "one of those days". Unfortunately for him they tend to stretch into weeks and months. Of course that's the danger these days of reading the paper. Between global warming (Australia is now on bake at 450 F) and the disappearence of our honey bees, not to mention war without end...Say. Anybody know a good gestalt therapist?

The Gummint vs Science

Last night a friend alerted me to a political cartoon contest being run by the Union of Concerned Scientists. The theme is government interference and manipulation of scientific research. I created this cartoon and submitted it today.

A gnu logo

My new comic strip just got branded with a logo. It hurt for a little while, but I put some ice packs on it and I'm feeling better now.

Besieged

I am still semi-speechless in the aftermath of the Virginia Tech massacre. Fortunately, I have a pack of critters who keep talking even when I can't.

Holding the horror - Releasing the love

What can one say on a day of unspeakable horror? Years ago my pen spoke for me when I created this logo, using one continuous line.

May we not close down in hate and fear. May we recognize that these sorts for horrors visit the homes of Iraqis every day. Not to mention Darfur. May we keep our hearts open as we walk through this open asylum we call the world.

iFreelance portfolio posted

I just learned of another online marketing tool called iFreelance.com and set up a portfolio there. In the process I came across this cartoon from a few years ago when Robin and I got married. This cartoon was on the back of our wedding program and demonstrated some of the stress we went through in preparation for the ceremony.

You can check out my online portfolio at www.ifreelance.com/pro/20782

Schulz Museum cartoon class

The inmates have taken over the asylum! Believe it or not, I had control of this class for three hours. Once they got hold of my markers though, it was all over. It was another great day that started out with 24 kids and one cartoonist. When it was over there was merely a room full of 25 cartoonists. One tall one and 24 short ones.

Plagiarizing myself

I keep waiting for this cartoon to lose its shelf life but it just keeps going and going like that battery bunny on TV. When I created this cartoon, several years ago now (egad), I stole the caption from a peace commercial I made for television back during the Vietnam War. As if our foreign policy wasn't bad enough, I just saw a film called Broken Rainbow about our current assault on the Navaho and Hopi in Arizona. This is a very low key bit of genocide, but no less devastating to its victims as their lives and culture are devasted so that Peabody Coal can move in with their big shovels and feed on their land. Just a little more deja vu all over again.

Cartoon Safari

This is the logo for my upcoming cartoon summer camp, a weeklong class at the Charles Schulz Museum. This week I'll be teaching several classes there, starting with tomorrow's focus on drawing animals. I loved drawing elephants when I was a kid. I am now passing this affliction on to future generations.

Welcome to the zoo!

Today's strip reveals for the first time that we've been inside a zoo all along, albeit hanging out after work at The Watering Hole, an animals-only tavern that serves water. In this strip we meet Frank the bear as he advised Gideon the penguin on some of the finer points of successful zoo living. (Clink on strip for larger image)

Everything you ever wanted to know...

about MICROBURSTS but were afraid to ask. Okay. So you don't really care. But pilots do. Having just received Advanced Ground Instructor certification from the FAA I'm in the process of creating a cartoon-based curriculum for pilot training. There's a lot to cover because pilots need to know a lot! I hope to make the information more memorable and fun at the same time. Cartooning for pilots? The sky's the limit.

That's not a goat!

I was expecting the arrival of a goat in today's strip. Instead, a semi-depressed penguin shows up. I guess that just goes to show who's in charge around here (and who isn't).

Freedom Fighters 56 is a new computer game that takes you through the actual events of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. I wrote what amounts to an onscreen graphic novel using fictional characters to unfold the actual events of two extraordinary weeks. In the end the Soviet Union squashed their hopes of freedom, but this shortlived uprising proved to be the first stone hurled at that historic Goliath. The game was produced by Red Hill Studios, where I am currently writing for a science-based educational game for high school kids. To see more go to www.freedomfighter56.com

If you can't stand the heat...

I spoke to an editor at McGraw-Hill today. They've requested this political cartoon for inclusion in an upcoming college text book due out in the fall, Writing for College, Writing for Life. This cartoon, and many others, live at a web site I entitled Cartoon Free America (subtitled: Bringing Back Liberty With Laughter). One can hope.

More good gnus

THE GNU LIFE keeps rolling along and helps get me psyched for teaching my next classes at the Schulz Museum in a week. The first class will deal with drawing animals. It's a fun class that borders on zoology credit. Once the kids understand certain zoological distinctions I'll be turning them loose to create creatures of their own. Darwin will be turning in his grave...laughing.

New WHAT TADOO film

This is the fourth film I've written for young kids about child abuse prevention. This one is targeted at a slightly older group (through fifth grade) by enlisting the help of a younger sister to help her brother put an end to abuse at the hands of his soccer coach. Standing up to any abuse is a tall order for a child. Standing up to authority figures is even tougher. That's the focus of this film. Years ago a four year old girl, having seen the first film in this series (What Tadoo) and blown the whistle on the offender was asked by a prosecutor how she knew what to do. "The frogs told me!" she replied. Hearing that was better than winning an Oscar.

This film is available through www.empowerkids.com

Welcome to THE GNU LIFE

Here's a peek at my new comic strip. Its birth coincides with teaching cartooning at the Charles M. Schulz Museum: kids classes next week...their first adult classes in June. So without further ado let me introduce you to a wildebeest and a couple of sheep who, along with their friends, are living THE GNU LIFE. This is a play on the New Life, a significant period in the life of Meher Baba from 1949-1951. Sanskaras are the karmic impressions we gather to ourselves throughout our lives.