Christmas message 2012

 I just discovered a 17 minute film that is a sort of WayBack machine to 1932 when Meher Baba delivered an address on the spiritual responsibility of the motion picture industry at a reception in his honor at Pickfair in Hollywood, home of Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks Jr.. Long before I knew about Meher Baba I graduated from USC Film School, totally unaware that it was established by Fairbanks and Pickford. In 1983, while returning from a pilgrimage to Meher Baba's tomb in India I encountered Steven Speilberg and all the producers of Star Wars, ET, and Indian Jones in Bombay. I subsequently shared this message with all of them. This is the first time I have heard the address read in its entirety. It is my Christmas gift to all of you. 

CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING LINK:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVZu9wMZkCo

Daddy Ducktape rides again

I just received a copy of the second DADDY DUCKTAPE book I've illustrated and I must say there's a family in Chicago with way too much duck tape on their hands. (I'm not really complaining. They are way fun to illustrate.)

Swami Time

The Swami From New Jersey will be performing this Saturday along with his sidekick Swami Dog at the Community Center in Sebastopol CA to celebrate the end of the end of the world and usher in whatever comes next. They both look forward to being her now, then.

Charlie the orangutan

 I recently wrote a promotional video to raise money for orphan orangutans in Borneo for the Global Animal Protection Society (GAPS). It is narrated by my wife Robin and features footage shot by producer John Gallucci in Borneo.

                                TO SEE CHARLIE'S VIDEO CLICK HERE

Upper Heaven

Every year we head down to Ojai for Thanksgiving dinner with my in-laws. Every year I drive to the top of Sulphur Mountain to visit Meher Mount, a retreat established by Meher Baba in the 1950s. It overlooks everything, including Larry Hagman's palatial home that he referred to as "Heaven". Obviously Meher Mount must be Upper Heaven. It sure feels that way.

Last Friday I announced that I was driving up the mountain to visit Larry Hagman (merely meaning that I was headed for Meher Mount). I only learned later in the day that Larry had just died. I can't vouch for any afterlife heaven...but I can tell you that Larry and I have shared a slice of it right here on Earth for a while.

Salmon chanted evening...

A rafting trip down the Yuba River was a real eye opener. The environmental damage from gold mining in the 1850s still haunts us today. We studied the life cycle of Chinook salmon and explored their habitat. We were blessed with glorious weather.

Those distant mountains are not mountains at all, but rather the tip of the iceberg when it comes to accumulated rocks from gold mining in the 19th Century that have washed down out of the mountains.

Amongst our salmon studies was the investigation of macro-organisms in the water, in order to gauge the river's health. It passed. 

 After salmon swim up river to spawn they die. Not much profit to be made here in online dating services.  Word of advice...I don't recommend picking up stinky dead salmon...but its a free country.

Puppet uprising

Romney has created quite a stir with his threat to ax Big Bird. This kerfuffle has not escaped the watchful eye of Glenn Beak.

To watch his latest episode CLICK here. 

The facts are coming!

On September 20, 2012 in Washington DC, Dennis Kucinich is hosting a Congressional Briefing on nuclear safety issues. My cartoon will be gracing the cover of the press kit. Paul Revere rides again.

RIP Stephen

I just heard that my childhood buddy Stephen died. The last time I saw him was 26 years ago. And that was after not seeing him since high school. In the interim it appeared he'd been to hell and back, by way of Vietnam. All I know is we were deliriously happy to see each other. He hugged me so hard he almost broke ribs. I will treasure the memory of more innocent times.

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.