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.

Puppeteers Guild party

Warren and I closed the evening at the the annual Puppeteers Guild party in the SF Bay Area. The evening was filled with amazing performances of all sorts including the hysterical marionettes of Ernie Fosselius. A good time was had by all.

Muraleando

Here are few more examples of murals and sculptures in Muraleando in Cuba where trashed out areas have been transformed by public art.










Detail from bench:

Cuba highlights Part 1

I will sprinkle in a few images every day until I can capture a taste of our Snoopy Goes To Cuba tour. We were greeted at the humor publication Palante with an array of welcoming cartoons featuring Schulz characters.


One day we toured a community called Muraleando where they've cleaned up the streets and transformed the area with countless murals and sculptures. One could fill a book with the imagery.


Another day we sat down with Perfecto Romero to see his historic photos of Fidel, Che and Camilo Ceinfuegos from the time of the revolution.


Another day we visited the animation studio of Cuba. This mural contains a montage of their characters. The beauty and quality of their current projects was stunning.


We also toured the enormous cemetery in Havana where I found the tomb of Ibrahim Ferrer of Buena Vista Social Club fame.



Stay tuned for more postings.

More Cuba

Tom Richmond has done a masterful blog account of our Cuba trip. Have a look at http://www.tomrichmond.com/blog/2010/01/25/cartooning-adventures-in-cuba/

Thank you Jeannie!

What an amazing adventure. I'd say we crammed one month into a week as the Snoopy Goes To Cuba tour rolled through Havana. Our little squad of American cartoonists visited with Cuban counterparts at newspapers, animation studios and design schools. We dropped in at Hemingway's house but he wasn't home. We even looked for him at all his favorite bars in downtown Havana but he wasn't there either. The Cuban people couldn't have been sweeter, prompting my new expression: "You don't meet people in Cuba...you fall in love with them." The narrow streets of the city are filled with people (as opposed to cars), not to mention music and dancing. I have never felt so safe walking around in dark alleys at midnight. The poverty and deprivation are obvious everywhere but are not enough to dampen their spirits. These photos include Jeannie Schulz and me with old Havana in the background.

Cuba bound

I leave in the morning with Jeannie Schulz to join with four other American cartoonists in the SNOOPY GOES TO CUBA 2 TOUR. It is a sobering time with the catastrophe in neighboring Haiti. As if those folks don't have enough problems. Good grief!

Latest book

I just got a proof of the latest book I've illustrated and it looks great. It contains five poem/stories including the title story, the tale of a musical mouse.

So long Dan...

It's not every day you lose someone you spent twenty years in space with. That's Dan O'Bannon I'm glaring at in this scene from Dark Star. We were never close, even though we did share a very cozy control room on that space ship. Nevertheless, I was always impressed with his talents, which ran deep in a various directions. I remember reading an interview where he described watching an early screening of Dark Star in which the audience wasn't laughing. It upset him that they didn't realize it was a comedy so he set out to scare the crap out of them instead...and wrote Alien. That worked! I'm obviously glad that Dark Star came to find cult status over time. Dan's name should always be mentioned in the same breath as John Carpenter when Dark Star is mentioned. I have no doubt that when I die Dan will be waiting to torment me with a rubber chicken once again. He was that kind of guy.

The new Warren Peace

He's bigger. He's golden. That's what kibble and peroxide will do for you. This evening Warren makes his debut at the annual meeting of the SF Bay Area Puppeteers Guild. But first things first. He had to be vetted by the members of the local dog park.

The birth of Story Ball

I just invented a group story process at an event following a performance of Charlotte's Web. 109 kids threw a story ball around (actually a fluffy chicken)as I drew their unfolding sequel to the classic story that included baby spiders Dr. Phil and Lucy, as well as several weddings (both Wilbur and Templeton the rat got hitched). It was a busy 15 minutes after which I recounted the whole sordid affair to the delight of all. This bit of communal insanity was sponsored by the Charles M. Schulz Museum.

Dogercize

Just can't find the time to get to the gym? Just grab a thick rope and a couple of dogs for a workout. This picture was taken moments after the third dog on the rope got bored and wandered off. A great workout!

I was a real brick!

It's been almost 40 years since Chris Capen and I were whisked off to perform in Europe on scholarship by USC Theater. Our small company performed all over Germany as well as in Cambridge, England under the direction of the late, great professor John Blankenchip. Months later, upon our return to LA, Blankenchip dropped me off at my apartment with one of his typical compliments..."You were a real brick!" At his recent memorial at USC I saw Capen for the first time since then. What was he carrying in his shoulder bag? A brick! It turns out he salvaged it from the ruins of our long-demolished campus theater and just wanted to share the booty at this reunion of sorts. The irony almost knocked me over...like being hit in the head with a brick.

Custom dog designs

Here's another customized cartoon. This one celebrates Jasper, a lightening fast whippet and member of the local dog club.

Fight Club

Every morning at the dog park Rowdy and Taezar and Poppy and Misty mix it up, having a ball - dog wrestling. Recently I've immortalized them on t-shirts and other products in my online store. Now I need to track down David Fincher and make him an honorary member.

In training

I've decided it's time for a career change. I'm going all out, practicing to be a professional puppy wrestler. There's not a lot of money in it but it's hard to complain when you have a mouthful of fur.

Local politics

My editorial cartoons usually address national and international issues. This week though I learned of upcoming budget cuts here in Rohnert Park CA that will result in the permanent lock down of all public restrooms in our parks....leaving us with what option? UPDATE: THE CITY HAS REVERSED ITS POSITION AND IS KEEPING BATHROOMS OPEN.