Time for a new cartoon! Actually, although the color is new, this is quite  old – one of the first cartoons I ever did, and part of a series I did with coffins. I was surprised, death is a fairly common topic with cartoonists – I heard Bob Mankoff, cartoon editor of the New Yorker, say that he gets a fair number of dead cartoons each week.

Raindrops keep falling on my head...coming from a coffin under a tombstone

Don’t get me wrong – I hate this song. I don’t like songs in my head, or humming the same one for days. I can’t remember who sang this…Neil Diamond? Someone will know. And it rains a lot where I come from.

This cartoon is for Illustration Friday’s topic, unbalanced.  Nothing like a coffin cartoon to prove I’m that! This is from my morbid collection, which I only bring out to show special guests. And you.

Read more »

Well…this is one of the few good new shows this season, so Glee is on my must-watch list. But tonight proves what a schizophrenic show it is; it’s trying to drag in both adults and, well, all the rest of you.

They alternate between grown-up situations, like adultery (or thinking about it, as Jimmy Carter would say), compromise in ethics or one’s goals, and life -changing decisions, and for the kiddies, after school specials, problems like who gets the solo, what is “really cool”, and how to come out to your father over and over and over. (Kurt is a great singer, bad actor. Everything he says is camp, flaming, and not believable. Especially when he tries to do the loving, fashion-whore son.)

Will is the main character. He’s the teacher of Glee Club. I like that he has flaws, is not socially adept at reading people, or at least women (his wife’s non-pregnancy), and his pig-headedness. Yet many viewers complain that they wish the show would drop all the teachers. Someone show them the way towards the CW.

Also, it’s so so so gay. Not to mention politically correct. Yeah, I know, some of it’s on purpose. It’s the major part that is so tedious and repetitive.

Read more »

Disappointing, but expected to see Aaron leave. Boy, I got tears in my eyes when Len gave him that special tribute at the end, and said he was like a son! He didn’t have to do that. Someone commented that they’re not watching DWTS to see therapy, but I am!

He learned how to control himself, and that will take him far in life. And I thought Karina was about as good a teacher as I’ve ever seen her. Very focused on him.

Meanwhile, bratty Kelly jumps for joy when he goes and she stays. Sure, she came up to hug him after – learned that in reality TV, did ya? Whatever. I can’t see her appeal at all. I guess I should just be happy I don’t crazy hate her, like Marie, or Chloris (the show killed her, folks, not me) or the worst ringer ever, Kristi the automaton.

Aside from results, a pretty good show! Liked the singers. I was looking forward to seeing Susan Boyle. Not stupendous, but very good. I loved her dignity, and her tiny little waves, like the Queen does! And I usually don’t like many dancers besides our own, but the couple on Michael Buble’s last dance was so good! I was taken with the yellow and black costumes, but it wasn’t just that – they really stood out.

Other dancing: Tony and Chelsie not as good as with Julianne. Also, those were some weird gymnastics she was doing. Not very dancy. And the Macy’s dance…first of all, my heart sank when I realized Mark Ballas was going to dance with Sabrina. Oh, that’s funny, NOT. How can I even pay attention when I know these 2 are exes??? What idiots to vote for them both. Plus…I don’t want to dis Derek’s best friend, but I can’t stand Mark B. Watching him in the group dance last night, he just always looks like he’s showing off himself, not his partner.

Which is also why I preferred Jonathan to Maks tonight. Maks is handsome, but the look on Jonathan’s face is so loving, and his movements so caring, I just want to be there!

Read more »

This tweet below, from a man who is one of the best selling single-panel cartoonists in the country -  his drawings of big nose, big feet, bug eyes, to go with his obvious gags, must please the most obvious editors, obviously.

I do so many tech cartoons, I figure it’s time to get on Twitter and see what it’s all about.

Ya think?

This is why single panel cartoons and magazine cartoons are a dying breed. There are many cartoonists like him, using a style they learned 40 years ago, with the same type of 1950’s humor – ie, puns, a word twist, easy stuff. No thought or research required. Stuck in their own rut, afraid to try anything new. Whatever works, right?

I’m a pragmatic capitalist, so yeah, up to a point.

But it’s not art, and you’re not trying, and you don’t care, and I could never call you a good cartoonist. Even though I wish I had your income.

Geez, I really hate Carrie Anne Inaba now. I’m just so fed up with her screeching, like those harridans on So You Think you Can Dance – major reason why I stopped watching that- and her nitpicking. How does saying “you missed a turn”, or her tired old “was that a lift?” actually HELP the dancers?? It ruins the experience and sure doesn’t make anyone feel better or improve their dancing. Other comments she makes, like watch your arms, ARE helpful. Doesn’t she see the difference?

And I can’t stand the way she points out the error: ” Sorry, I can’t help it, I saw it,” with this little wince, like please forgive me, and I’m really a great girl. No, you’re not, and you’re too anal, so shut up. I do believe the judging results are fixed, especially near the end, but unfortunately, the personalities are real.

Anyway, I think this is the weakest season of DWTS ever, but I’m still watching, because Derek Hough is still there. I’ve come to the conclusion that he is probably a once in a lifetime dancer – in the genius category. He should be winning awards in the Arts, because that’s how we are supposed to honor the best in the field. Sure, it does help that he is very very goodlooking, but I think Tony is very handsome, and Alec might be the most beautiful, yet Derek glows. (Tony is the sexiest dancer, and Alec is sexy with certain partners – not Edyta! – but Derek has chemistry with more partners, and can also solo like nobody’s business.) I hope I get to see him dance in person sometime!

Below are some tasty comments from the fascinating Television Without Pity forums on DWTS.

Derek, for all of his annoying-at-times quirks, is an awesome choreographer. I can’t deny that. Anyone else would have screwed that paso up, but it was easily my favorite dance of the night.

Derek, he likes to do the best he can, so, as is happening this season, he will drag his partner to the end even if she becomes like Goldie Hawn and Meryl Streep at the end of Death Becomes Her.

Hee hee!

Read more »

Life is short. Time is precious. Movies are only 2 hours long. I can’t invest too much time or thought in them, but some are enjoyable, and stick to your mind like post-it notes.

Let me know if any of these stick in your mind…or craw.

Bark
Bark! I hate indie films. Please don’t make me watch them. But this had Lisa Kudrow and didn’t sound too weird, so I took a chance on it. Kind of funny! There were only a few scenes where they “experimented” and got “edgy.” A man’s wife decides she’s a dog. (no animation, no talking dogs, just an actress.) Good actress, and husband was a good actor. People try to figure her out. There’s a romance. I liked it.

Lisa K might think about trying to stretch her acting repertoire. She has the power. And the Amazon reviewers are right – the cover for this really truly sucks.

The Sixth Sense (Collector’s Edition Series)
The Sixth Sense, with good old Bruce Willis. I know, it’s really really old. Sorry! For reasons too long to get into, (these reviews can only be a minute in length) a great friend left a pile of movies and a box of Junior Mints on my doorstep one day, and this was in there, so I thought, well, I’ll TRY it again.

For some reason, I really noticed the quiet cinematography this time. In Philly, yay, with skies and weather you rarely see in movies. The whole movie is really good, and, okay, I cried a little, again.

The Return (Widescreen Edition)

With Sarah Michelle Gellar. Gah, is she a bad actress. And the bf was kind of abusive. Horror? Fantasy? Stupid. Sucks.

Come back later for more one-minute movie reviews!