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.